German giant explores its demand-side resources
German giant explores its demand-side resources
The German electric utility RWE Energie AG will invest DM 100 million (appr. US$ 65 million) in residential energy-efficiency measures over a three-year period. With a total annual electricity production of about 120 TWh, RWE is not only the largest and most powerful utility in Germany but also one of Europe's largest utilities. Although this is probably a German breakthrough for least-cost planning, energy-efficient lighting is not part of the program.
The cost of the program eventually will be paid by the utility's residential customers. The RWE investment plan comes in response to an offer made by the provincial (Bundesland) government of Nordrhein-Westfalen to support utility-sponsored least-cost planning and to allow utilities to recover program costs through rates. Nordrhein-Westfalen is the first German province to introduce least-cost planning principles within the framework of German electricity price regulation. It is also the first German province to explicitly encourage the recovery of program costs through rates. Dieter Schulte Janson, energy economics advisor to the Nordrhein-Westfalen government, hopes that the RWE program will lead to a breakthrough for utility-sponsored least-cost planning in the residential sector all over Germany.
Beginning in autumn 1992, RWE is offering its three million residential customers a rebate of DM 100 (appr. US$ 65) for highly energy-efficient refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, and dishwashers. According to RWE officials, these four alliances have been selected with the aim of achieving the largest energy savings in the most cost-effective fashion.
It apperas as if lighting has not yet been thoroughly investigated as an option for the program. CFLs initially were considered, but RWE decided that the market position of CFLs among their customers was so strong that additional rebates to customers were unncecessary, and that the DM 100 million would be better spent by offering rebates for appliances. However, RWE does not exclude the possiblity of initiating lighting programs at a later stage.
According to Dietmar Kuhnt, chairman of the board at RWE, the 100 million-mark demand-side management program will not only reduce pollution associated with electricity generation, but will also help RWE to postpone the construction of new and expensive power plants. The 100 million marks spent over three years represents about 1.5% of the total annual RWE residential sector sales turnover of DM 2.2 billion.
Uwe Leprich