Energy Innovators from #ITC #EnergyConnected

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to speak with a few of the guest speakers at the Idaho Technology Council‘s Energy Connected conference in downtown Boise. Today on the show I share those brief conversations with Jules Kortenhorst from Rocky Mountain Institute, Aimee Christensen from Christensen Global Strategies, and John Teeter a former White House Innovation Fellow working in the energy strategy sector.

Got an idea for a show? We’d love to hear about it! Contact us at buildingagreeneridaho@gmail.com

 

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Typical Boise Home Retrofit- Using Solar, EVs & Heat Pump to go Net Zero

John Weber is on to a new home project after completing a super efficient, net zero home a few years ago that he built from the ground up. This time around he is retrofitting a typical Boise home built in the 70’s to make it as efficient as possible and go net zero again. The most important goal of this project is to keep the upgrades as affordable as possible to show people they can achieve near net zero energy living even in a very inefficient existing home.

Tune in to my conversation with John to learn about this very cool home retrofit project and how he has reduced the energy demand of the home and coupled that with a solar pv system and his plug-in electric car named Ice Storm. As always you can listen on air at 93.5 FM or 89.9 FM or stream the show via www.radioboise.org.

John’s Small Footprint new home project 2011

Check back on this blog post for pictures of John’s house including some of the features we’ll discuss on the show and some tips on where to find products and services he utilized for his home.

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Idaho Power Proposes New Rules for Net-Metering Program

Idaho Power has proposed new rules to the Idaho Public Utility Commission concerning how it wants to operate it’s net-metering program. The proposed changes follow the announcement that Idaho Power would like to temporarily suspend two popular consumer electricity demand-response programs.

Courtney White

Net-metering allows Idaho Power customers who generate their own electricity (through wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, biomass or fuel cell installations), to sell excess power back into the grid and receive compensation for it. Under proposed rule changes, Idaho Power will double the total number of power that is permitted to be generated by net-metering, but it will also quadruple the service fees that net-metering users pay to access the Idaho Power grid. Net-metering users will also no longer receive direct compensation for the power they generate, but will instead receive yearly credits that can be redeemed for power use if and when users draw electricity from Idaho Power’s grid. The credits expire at the end of the fiscal year.

Join us for a conversation with Courtney White, a local homeowner with a solar installation that participates in the net-metering program to hear about her experiences with the program and what the proposed rule changes mean to her and for all Idaho Power users concerned about increasing the supply of clean energy generation in our state.

You can also download a podcast of our conversation.

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