The Energy Coalition began as a demonstration project of John Phillip’s Engineering Supervision Company in 1975. The project built California’s first energy cooperative in Los Angeles with 13 buildings, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the Los Angeles Central City Association. The energy cooperative approach, where groups of buildings work together during critical periods to reduce demands on peaking power thus ‘unloading’ the utility of the need to produce a portion of its highest cost electricity, proved to be a powerful idea.
Within one year, the LA Energy Cooperative was producing a 10-15% reduction of electricity use during LADWP’s critical peak demand periods. The success of the first project led to the development of the first commercial, non-profit energy cooperative – the Southern California Energy Cooperative - in partnership with Southern California Edison. Over the next fifteen years, the Southern California Energy Cooperative, which changed its name to the California Energy Coalition in 1982, formed a total of seven energy cooperatives with utilities and businesses in California in addition to creating cooperatives in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Gothenburg, and Stockholm.
Each of these cooperatives shed critical peak loads when called upon by their serving utilities. Further, each was paid to do so at a cost far less than the utility would need to buy similar peaking resources or power. The most profound result was The Energy Coalition created peer-to-peer exchanges within the coalitions. Here, members became attuned to the broader opportunities in energy management approaches that would save them money while alleviating utilities’ peak capacity problems.
Inspired by the effects of the Oil Embargo in the late 1970’s and the success of building operators in achieving peak reductions in energy usage during the critical demand periods, John Phillips introduced the idea of PEAK education. PEAK was based on the idea that, like building operators run commercial and industrial buildings, kids run our homes – they are the operators. By instilling the ethics of energy efficiency and energy stewardship in children at school they would be empowered to manage their family’s energy usage at home.
After PEAK’s first four years of implementation in Laguna Beach, the energy usage of households with PEAK students had fallen an average of 4.5%, while the control group families had increased usage by 7% during this demonstration project. At this point, the PEAK concept was ahead of its time, as energy education was not given much credence and support to continue the project was not forthcoming. By 1998, the time had come and PEAK was re-established in California and Sweden.
Based on the success built with the Irvine Company and the Fluor Corporation in Orange County’s two energy cooperatives, The Energy Coalition began working with the City of Irvine in 1989 to set up a series of energy saving initiatives between the City and the Irvine Company. This relationship progressed and in 1994, the Mayor of Irvine joined with the mayors of Santa Monica, Gothenburg and Nacka, Californian and Swedish utility executives, and representative of government regulatory agencies in the first Aspen Accord.
One of Aspen Accord’s early endeavors was the Regional Energy Efficiency Initiative (REEI), which brought Santa Monica together with Irvine, in a partnership with Southern California Edison and The Energy Coalition to provide the PEAK education program as well as energy efficiency education and services in the community.
The REEI was extremely successful in bringing diverse constituents of the cities together - residents, small businesses, students, school districts and city government together with their serving utilities to produce energy savings and foster an ethic of energy stewardship. The REEI was expanded in 2001 to a six-city Community Energy Partnership and then again in 2004 to include ten cities as well as the Southern California Gas Company. The Community Energy Partnership continues today in Southern California and is being considered for expansion throughout California.
In addition to being part of the Community Energy Partnership in Southern California, PEAK has expanded. As a demonstration, the PEAK Northern Illinois Energy Project was initiated in 2005. PEAK is also now being taught in San Diego County in partnership with SDG&E and in the Bay Area of California in partnership with PG&E.
The Energy Coalition is re-invigorating the success of its earlier energy cooperatives through the Business Energy Coalition (BEC). The BEC is a Demand Response pilot program with PG&E that began in 2005. In its first two years, the Business Energy Coalition has surpassed its goals. Today, the BEC is committed to achieving a group reduction goal of 50 MW by the summer of 2008, with over 100 members throughout PG&E’s territory.