Bonneville Target
To support both Bonneville’s and the regional power system’s needs, the Council recommends that Bonneville acquire between 270 and 360 average megawatts of cost-effective energy efficiency by the end of 2027 and at least 865 average megawatts by 2041. Aligning with the Council’s analysis of remaining potential and historical achievements, this level represents 36 percent of the overall regional target.[1] Within the first six years, the Council recommends that Bonneville plan to acquire a minimum of 243 average megawatts of cost-effective efficiency from programmatic savings. This includes savings currently funded through Bonneville’s program, whether via the Energy Efficiency Incentive or self-fund utility contributions, as well as NEEA market transformation initiatives. The remaining efficiency may come through additional programmatic activity, market change, or codes and standards. Bonneville should use the Council’s methodology for cost-effectiveness and associated parameters to identify efficiency opportunities at levels that are cost-effective for the region. This target recognizes the value that Bonneville can provide the region to ensure a reliable power system and achieve decarbonization goals. Additionally, it can mitigate some of the risk associated with potential changes in obligations post-2028 when the current contracts expire.
The Council understands that although Bonneville produces an annual budget, it forecasts its revenues and expenditures on a biennial basis as part of its rate setting process. For the first two years of the 2021 Power Plan, the Council assumes that Bonneville has budgeted appropriately for the agency to successfully achieve the energy efficiency target in this plan. For the remaining years of the 2021 Plan, Bonneville should work with the Council to ensure that a budget is established to successfully meet the Plan’s energy efficiency targets.
The Council recognizes that there are diverse challenges to acquiring energy efficiency across Bonneville’s customer utilities. Achieving the efficiency targets will require that Bonneville work to meet each of those utility challenges within the cost-effectiveness considerations. Many of the public utilities with a rural—and primarily residential and agricultural—customer base have fewer energy efficiency opportunities. Additionally, these utilities may lack resources—such as staff, contractors, retailers—and thus have significant challenges implementing cost-effective efficiency programs. To meet its programmatic efficiency goals, Bonneville must work with these utilities and provide territory-wide programmatic opportunities to enhance the infrastructure for the small and rural utilities. Continued funding of NEEA initiatives will also provide necessary support for training and other infrastructure to address implementation barriers across its customer utility footprint.[2]
Although codes and standards and market adoption are not included in Bonneville’s programmatic minimum, they are important mechanisms of acquiring efficiency, particularly in the longer term. It is thus imperative that Bonneville, along with the other regional utilities continue supporting the research to understand and promote all means of cost-effective energy efficiency adoption, particularly the work done by NEEA.
As such, to help ensure that the necessary levels of cost-effective conservation are acquired, we recommend the Bonneville:
- Maintain ratepayer-funded efficiency programs (utility direct programs and market transformation initiatives) at a funding level sufficient to achieve the 2027 goals.
- Continue to fund research and development on emerging technologies in an amount commensurate with 2020 levels or greater;
- Continue to fund regional market research, stock assessments, evaluation, and related analysis in an amount commensurate with 2020 levels or greater;
- Support initiatives to enhance building codes and appliance standards, at both the state and federal governments.
[1] The determination of 36 percent as the Bonneville portion of the regional target represents the portion of cost-effective energy efficiency potential located within the Bonneville customer utilities territory. More information can be found here.
[2] One current example of this is the Comfort Ready Homes program.