Energy
Using energy efficiently has been a critical focus of CNT’s efforts to improve urban sustainability. In 2000, CNT Energy (formerly known as the Community Energy Cooperative) was created to explore new ways to measure energy usage and to assist individual consumers and concerned communities in achieving sustainable, affordable energy solutions.
The energy programs at CNT are consolidated under the division CNT Energy, a 501c(4) non-profit organization helping consumers and communities obtain the information and services they need to reduce their consumption and costs. CNT Energy’s areas of focus include building performance and energy efficiency, real-time electricity pricing, climate change analysis, regional energy planning, and green building research and evaluation.
CNT Energy offers consumer households up-to-date information on the rapidly changing energy market in Illinois. Members gain access to educational programs on managing energy costs, as well as opportunities to participate in pilot programs designed to benefit consumers.
CNT Energy will continue developing innovative programs and strategies to reduce energy consumption and costs, and will work to help communities become healthier and more sustainable.
To learn more about CNT Energy’s programs and tools, visit our Web site at www.cntenergy.org.
Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
As more companies like GE and Siemens delve deeply into the technological opportunities to be gained from a smart grid, CNT and other advocates stress that a smart grid will not be economically viable unless customer benefits are included as fundamental components.
As it stands, most discussions of infrastructure investment do not include customer benefits anywhere near the beginning of the discussion. Because many smart grid investments need to rely on consumer benefits as well as system benefits for a strong business case, lack of a robust consumer-oriented strategy weakens the argument for smart grid investments.
Recently, CNT CEO Kathy Tholin took part in the Economist magazine‘s “Thought Leadership” panel, as part of a Smart Grid Tour, sponsored by Siemens. The tour has been visiting major U.S. cities like New Orleans, Chicago and Washington, D.C. to communicate trends in the industry and identify leaders around the country who have been working and putting together all facets necessary to address the creation of a smart grid electric system—from generation to transmission as well as distribution through consumption. The event in Chicago focused on how to build sustainable energy and smart grid platforms that work within cities like Chicago, with a focus on buildings as a major consumer of energy.
Kathy zeroed-in on the need for critical information in order to make the decisions about one’s energy use as a key factor in reducing demand. Comparing energy usage to transportation use, Kathy pointed out that consumers do not really know what they are spending on transportation, because they do not have the kind of information (or the access to it) to make better choices about their spending. And the same can be said for energy consumption; without the necessary baseline of information on usage, it’s difficult for consumers to be most effective in consuming less.
Smart grids have the potential to disseminate key information on usage and reduction and savings mechanisms more readily than current outdated technologies. CNT Energy is actively involved in exploring the consumer benefits that come from the implementation of smart grid technologies and in 2008, convened the Illinois Smart Grid Initiative to begin the stakeholder driven exploration of Smart Grid benefits for Illinois consumers. Currently CNT Energy is a participant in the Illinois Commerce Commission initiated Illinois Statewide Smart Grid Collaborative.
A key to CNT Energy’s interest in the smart grid is how smart metering can enable new options for consumers. These include new rate options as well as the development and implementation of new web-based and in-home technologies that can better manage energy use and reduce costs for consumers. The work of CNT Energy on residential real-time pricing in Illinois informs CNT Energy’s belief that providing consumers access to variable market-based pricing is a powerful and effective way to make the electric system more efficient and bring real economic benefits to consumers. With Illinois’ initiatives in this area now the largest deployment of residential real-time pricing in the country, they provide important models for other states and utilities.
For a commentary on CNT Energy’s view of getting smart rates right, see Anthony Star’s blog post on GE’s smart grid blog, another major participant in the private’s sector’s participation in driving smart grid innovation.
Comments (1) »
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Congratulations to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and its partners, City of Chicago and City of Rockford, for receipt of a $25 million Department of Energy (DOE) “Retrofit Ramp-Up” award. This award recognizes the work that is being done in the Chicago area and will help expand implementation of energy efficiency programs across the region.
“This grant represents unprecedented new opportunities for the Chicago region to accelerate efforts for high performing energy efficiency initiatives,” said Scott Bernstein, President of CNT, who attended today’s announcement at the White House. “This award will help organizations around the region to expand existing initiatives and create new ones that save real money for households and building owners while also reducing our region’s carbon footprint.”
This regional initiative will build on the success of existing energy efficiency programs, including CNT’s Energy Savers Program, which is substantially reducing energy costs in tens of thousands of apartments. The DOE award will enable the creation of a one-stop shop to assist home and business owners to identify financing and implement cost effective energy efficient renovations to their buildings. The focus will be on expanding the availability of a trained work force, providing information and financing to building owners to increase demand for energy efficient renovations and reducing the costs of customer acquisition for contractors.
The competition for funds from the US Department of Energy emphasized the ability to effectively scale up retrofit activity and achieve substantial energy savings. CMAP’s proposal on behalf of the Chicago region, envisions a coordinated system that builds on Chicago’s existing strengths and develops a set of comprehensive and coordinated services for the region. Chicago’s proposal exemplified the findings of the Middle Class Task Force, led by Vice President Biden, which recognized that successful energy efficiency initiatives require coordinated one-stop service delivery that packages specialized information, skillful contractors and affordable financing so that both homeowners and renters can share in a set of true economic benefits together.
The Chicago area’s ability to put together a strong proposal was also greatly enhanced by the activities of Chicago’s philanthropic community, which has supported existing initiatives to develop the Chicago Climate Action Plan, create the Preservation Compact, and support the development of effective energy efficiency programs. These programs not only save energy, but preserve affordable housing, enhance community economic security, create jobs, and contribute to global climate protection.
“We couldn’t be more excited about this award,” said Bernstein. “We look forward to helping Chicago become a model for the nation in “Ramping Up” high performance energy efficiency to benefit our families, our economy, and our environment.”
Comments (0) »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 10:30 am
The Preservation Compact announced that CNT Energy’s innovative energy efficiency program, Cook County Energy Savers, is proving that residential energy retrofits can scale-up quickly, reaching thousands of residents and delivering cost-effective, large-scale benefits.
In just 18 months, Energy Savers has retrofitted 3,500 apartments and other rental units in Chicago and neighboring communities, typically cutting energy consumption by 30 percent. The program has more than 2,500 units in construction and is on track to complete more than 8,500 retrofits by the end of this year, making it one of the country’s largest and most successful programs for retrofitting existing multi-family, rental housing.
The program is one of six key initiatives spearheaded by The Preservation Compact, a public/private partnership working to preserve and improve the supply of affordable rental housing throughout Cook County.
In their announcement, Julia Stasch, co-chair of the Preservation Compact and Vice President for Human and Community Development at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, recognized its partners’ expertise and the program’s efficient design. “Energy Savers has quickly delivered on three key objectives: keeping our region’s rental housing affordable, creating new jobs, and achieving significant energy efficiency gains.”
Ms. Stasch stated, “We are excited that Energy Savers has achieved such solid results in a short period of time.”
Launched with seed funding from the City of Chicago and three major foundations, Energy Savers has a sustainable business model that covers the program’s ongoing costs through long-term financing shared by building owners and local utilities.
Energy Savers is also the model for a new region-wide effort to take energy efficiency services and financing to scale for both single and multi-family housing and for non-residential buildings. This new effort is backed by CNT Energy and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and is being funded by the Chicago Community Trust.
Read full press release here.
Comments (0) »
Read more Energy news »
