SEU Task Force Mission Statement and Goals

September 29, 2006 (PDF 21KB)

Mission

The Sustainable Energy Taskforce will investigate the feasibility of establishing a Sustainable Energy Utility and a Solar Lifeline service in the State of Delaware and will draft legislative proposals for that purpose.

To accomplish this mission, the Task Force will:

1. Identify national best practices to promote customer-sited renewable energy and energy efficiency and conservation services targeted to residential and small-to-medium business customers. The Task Force will schedule hearings from experts who represent industry, interested parties, and government in states such as New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, and New York, to help provide information about how similar programs have been designed.
2. Define for the State of Delaware energy efficiency services, the Sustainable Energy Utility, and the Solar Lifeline.
3. Examine the potential benefits and challenges to creating a Gross Receipts Tax Reduction Partnership to support the Solar Lifeline.
4. Examine the organizational design possibilities for a Sustainable Energy Utility, including structure, oversight, programmatic categories, and target areas.

Working Definitions

These preliminary definitions may be redefined in subsequent official Task Force meetings. The Task Force initially envisions that the Sustainable Energy Utility will be a non-profit entity separate from any utility, public or private, that operates in Delaware. The primary function of the SEU is to develop end-user markets for energy efficiency services and customer-sited renewable energy, and to facilitate private secotr implementation of the SEU's market development plans. The SEU's role is to serve as a point-of-contact for end users to obtain low-cost, environmentally sound services on the demand-side of the meter. The SEU will be subject to the oversight of an independent committee, and an independent auditor will annually verify the SEU's performance. Management of the SEU will be awarded by a competitively bid contract. The SEU may contract with any entity including, but not limited to, local governments, municipal utilities, and investor owned utilities. Proposed target areas for SEU services include: agricultural facilities, new housing/small business construction, existing housing/businesses, rental units/multifamily dwellings, low-income housing, new vehicle purchasers, state buildings, and local strategic partners.

The Task Force envisions the Solar Lifeline will be a service whereby low-income households could purchase solar-generated electricity at a reduced rate. This program would be possible through the creation of a Gross Receipts Tax Reduction Partnership that promotes business investment in solar energy technologies. To encourage corporate participation in the Solar Lifeline the Task Force will consider the need to create a mandatory quota in the State's Renewable Portfolio Standard for in-State solar generation. The Task Force will also consider the need, and mechanisms, to monitor, verify, and certify the trading of locally generated Solar Renewable Energy Certificates.

The Task Force would like to expand the conventional definition of energy efficiency services to include, but not be limited to, end-uses that consume electricity, end-uses that directly consume fossil fuels, weatherization, green architecture/green buildings, and high efficiency vehicles. In addition, the Task Force recognizes that effective energy efficiency programs often encourage energy end-users to retire old appliances and equipment, replacing them with new, more efficient equipment, which can create new waste streams of toxic and non-toxic materials. Therefore the Task Force further expands the notion of sustainable energy services to include mechanisms to recycle or refurbish end-use appliances and technologies discarded by the residential sector and small-to-medium businesses.