Success Stories for Colorado

Delta-Montrose Electric Association Home Energy Makeover Contest: Many of us braved this winter by slipping on gloves to keep our fingers warm as we dutifully wrote a check to the utility company. As energy rates continue to climb, is there really anything we can do but pay bigger utility bills?

What about turning up the heat and living more comfortably, while making your home work smarter to help you save money?

Energy-related home improvements are a one-time cost every month for as long as they own their homes. In order to drive this message into the homes of its member consumers, last fall Tri-State member system Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) (CO-020), Montrose, Colorado launched the Home Energy Makeover Contest.

The purpose of the contest was not only to demonstrate how those with higher-than-average home energy costs could cut their energy use, but also to teach all coop members how best to improve their homes in ways that reduce their overall utility bills. Everyone can be a winner with a few easy steps that make a home more energy efficient.

"When we talk to our members about high bill complaints, our goal has always been to arm them with all the information to be as energy efficient as possible," said Paul Bony, DMEA's member services and marketing manager. "We think energy efficiency is a key community issue - the more money members have in their pockets, the more they have to spend in the local economy."

"Home energy improvements don't cost, they pay," emphasized Ed Thomas, marketing director of Intermountain Energy, DMEA's subsidiary that implemented the contest. "For instance, the first thing homeowners can do is to change out their five most used light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) bulbs. Although CFLs cost more, they last 13 times longer and use 75 percent less electricity. At DMEA's rates today, a member is going to save $5 annually with three hours of daily use. It's not sexy, it's not a complete makeover - it's a $5 light bulb.

"We wanted to demonstrate the sorts of things you could do in a typical home," continued Thomas. "Not just talk about it, but to show how you go about looking at a house to figure out what solutions actually work."

DMEA's Home Energy Makeover Contest kicked off in August 2005 and received 130 entries. Typical DMEA member homes - 1,000 to 2,500 square feet, with no unusual types of major energy use - were eligible to participate. Entrants had the chance to win $25,000 in energy-related home improvements. In addition to the grand prize, two runners-up received $10,000 in improvements. Seven members won a free energy analysis of their homes to determine the best ways to cut their energy bills. All contestants also got a Home Energy Makeover Guide to help them make their own home improvements. The DMEA partnered with the Colorado Energy Science Center (CESC) to help select the 10 finalists. CESC, a Denver-based nonprofit energy education organization, conducted similar contests last year for Xcel Energy and Colorado Springs Utilities. Entrants gave CESC permission to review their total energy bills including electricity, gas and propane, for the last 12 months. Each utility bill was converted to British thermal units (Btus) to establish an across the board standard. The total Btus were divided by the home's square feet to get the Btu per square foot use. From those calculations, the 30 highest energy users were identified.

"It was DMEA's goal to select typical homeowners to make these improvements, so that others could say,'my house is like that and I could do that to my home,'" said Bony. Next,20 homes were visited to find candidates that could best demonstrate the savings, from which 10 homes received the comprehensive energy audits. "We went through each of the 10 homes and inventoried everything that used energy, explained Thomas. All the different appliances, their ages and their efficiency were examined. With the use of a blower door analysis, the air leakage of the building shell was determined - looking at houses that breathe versus houses that leak. From there, a pie chart was created that provided a visual of how each house uses energy. DMEA also sought local business support for the donation of systems and equipment. "By partnering with the window, insulation, and heating and cooling contractors, we were able to work together toward a common goal," said Thomas. "We wanted to create a collaborative process to ensure the house works together as a system. "It was critical to find a computer program that worked with real data and treated a house as a whole," continued Thomas. "TREAT software was good for that. It shows homeowners which investments pay for themselves. Factoring actual energy use, local weather data and contractor costs, Intermountain Energy was able to provide a menu of cost effective improvements that were grouped into price levels: "good (up to $2,500), better (up to $10,000) and best (up to $25,000)".

The grand prize winner was a 2,600 square foot home built in 1945 and expanded in 1959 that used 16,100 kilowatt hours annually and 1,200 gallons of propane for heating. An investment of $2,500 would call for cellulose insulation in the attic and crawlspace, sealing air leaks, installing low flow faucet aerators and showerheads and replacing 10 incandescent bulbs with CFLs. The next level would include all those measures, plus upgrading the boiler and water heater and installing Energy Star windows. The best package of $25,000 - the one the winning home received - replaced the propane furnace with a geothermal heat pump.

"If we assume that the owners refinanced their mortgage to borrow the money for the upgrades, these improvements would save more money monthly than the loan added resulting in positive cash flow," said Thomas. "And, not only do we focus on energy savings, but we also want to ensure the residents will be more comfortable and live in a healthier house." "We think energy efficiency is good for business," noted Bony. "DMEA and Intermountain Energy want to provide a comprehensive service to help our members improve their homes' energy performance. If a measure like an energy makeover contest encourages members to conserve, it's worth the investment to us to have a working example.

May 2006

2006 Energy Star Award: Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) (CO-020), Delta, Colorado, is the recipient of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2006 Energy Star Award

2006 Energy Star Award: Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) (CO-020), Delta, Colorado, is the recipient of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2006 Energy Star Award: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) with the "Excellence in ENERGY STAR Outreach 2006 Award" for the electric distribution cooperative's outstanding contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through its "Brightening Our Communities" campaign promoting the purchase of energy-efficient Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs).

DMEA, a Touchstone Energy cooperative serving more than 25,000 members in Colorado's Delta and Montrose counties, will be recognized at the ENERGY STAR awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2006.

In a two week period coinciding with ENERGY STAR's "Change a Light, Change the World" campaign, DMEA launched a "Brightening Our Communities with ENERGY STAR-qualified CFLs" media campaign that supported the sales of CFLs by community groups in DMEA's service territory. Participating non-profit groups raised $6,000 by selling 3,000 CFLs that together are expected to result in an annual 219,000 kWh savings and a lifetime reduction of nearly 700 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

"Partners such as DMEA are spreading the word about the importance of energy efficiency in all aspects of our lives," said Kathleen Hogan, director of EPA's Climate Protection Partnerships Division. "They are doing an outstanding job of promoting products, services, homes and programs that help consumers save money and importantly, help protect our environment."

"DMEA's ENERGY STAR award winning program is a great example of how electric cooperatives across the nation are working to help their member-owners save energy and money," said Glenn English, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). "We're non-profit and have our consumers' and communities' best interests at heart."

"Credit for this award goes to the participating non-profit groups in our service territory and to our members who bought Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) during this campaign," said Paul Bony, DMEA's Manager of Marketing and Member Services. "They understand that energy efficiency measures don't cost, they pay."

DMEA did not subsidize the cost of the Compact Fluorescent Bulbs sold in its campaign; in fact, CFL purchasers added a $2 donation to the non-profit group from which they bought the energy saving light bulbs.

"Because they use 70% less electricity than inefficient incandescent light bulbs to produce equivalent lighting, the CFLs more than pay for their higher initial cost plus the donation to the participating community group within a year based on only 3 hours a day of use," explained Bony. Don Hinson, a member of the Paonia Public Library Board, one of the 15 community groups that sold CFLs during DMEA's campaign, summarized the program's success:

"The folks who bought the bulbs will save energy and money, the library earned over $1,600 to put to our building project, and we're improving the environment by reducing pollution. We appreciate DMEA's giving us the opportunity to be a part of it."

The 2006 ENERGY STAR award winners were selected from over 8,000 organizations that participate in the ENERGY STAR program. Last year alone, with the help of ENERGY STAR, Americans saved $12 billion on their energy bills and enough peak energy to power 28 million homes. Through those savings they avoided greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 23 million vehicles.

"Promoting ENERGY STAR qualified products is one of the ways we hope to help our members reduce their overall home energy use by 25% by the year 2010," noted Bony. "By choosing ENERGY STAR qualified products, the typical household can save up to $450 per year - while improving home comfort and helping the environment."

DMEA plans to repeat the "Brightening Our Communities" campaign in the fall of 2006.

March 2006

DMEA Brightens the Future for Local Grads: This fall fourteen local students will attend college with the help of scholarships from Delta-Montrose Electric Association (CO-020) (DMEA), Tri-State Generation & Transmission (CO-047) (Tri-State), and Basin Electric Power Cooperative (ND-045) (Basin). DMEA scholarships all came from the co-op's unclaimed capital credits fund, and six went to students graduating from area high schools in Delta and Montrose counties.

They are: Delta High School's Anica Wong, daughter of Pam and Corey Wong; Montrose High grad Laura Trujillo, daughter of Sandy and Mike Trujillo; Olathe High School's Chase Branham, whose parents are Terri and Matt Branham; Paonia High grad Josh Thomas, son of Patty and Rick Thomas; Cedaredge High School grad Alyse Record, daughter of Gail and Clifford Record; and from Hotchkiss High, Andrew Nicewicz, whose parents are Karina and David Nicewicz. Two students from Non-Traditional/ Alternative Schools in Delta and Montrose Counties also received scholarships - they are, from Delta County, Valerie Madariaga, daughter of Janice and Kirk Madariaga of Paonia, and from Montrose County Laura Gesink, whose parents are Betty and Kerry Gesink. Kolten Tea, son of Holly and Doug Tea of Montrose, received the DMEA employee dependent scholarship.

This year, two new scholarships were added to DMEA's program and were provided to Mesa State Montrose Campus and Delta-Montrose Technical College, to be awarded according to their individual criteria.

Tri-State's two $500 scholarships went to Lindsey Daniels of Montrose, daughter of Sherralyn and Lory Daniels, and Hannah Williams, daughter of Brenda and Kevin Williams of Montrose. Basin Electric Power Cooperative provided a $1,000 scholarship, which went to Gloria See, daughter of Kathy and Randy See of Montrose.

"We have the great pleasure of representing our power suppliers, Tri-State and Basin, who very generously provide scholarships from their own programs that are specifically for students from DMEA co-op member families," said Board President Les Renfrow. "The scholarship program is an example of how cooperatives working together - DMEA, Tri-State, and Basin can make a real difference for our members and our communities."

March 2006

DMEA Hosts USDA Renewable Energy and Value Added Agriculture Meeting: Delta-Montrose Electric Association, CO-020), Montrose, Colorado, hosted an informational meeting on February 15, 2006, at which representatives from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development met with area business owners, representatives from banks and local chamber offices, and government representatives from local, state and national legislators' offices, to discuss resources available in Colorado for Renewable Energy and Value Added Agriculture projects.

Among those who attended the meeting were (l to r) Pablo Galvan from Congressman John Salazar's office; Pattie Snidow, USDA Area Director and program presenter; Nancy Hovde, DMEA Board Member; and Matthew McCombs, of U.S. Senator Ken Salazar's office.

For more information about the USDA Rural Development program, log on to http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs.

February 2006

DMEA Co-Sponsors 2006 Colorado Renewable Energy Summit: More than 500 people interested in greater energy independence through the development and use of domestic renewable energy resources attended the 2006 Colorado Renewable Energy Summit, held January 11, 2006, in Denver.

"DMEA is known statewide as a strong advocate of renewable energy and I'm pleased we were invited to co-sponsor this important public forum," said Dan McClendon, DMEA's General Manager. "We were able to inform hundreds of Colorado's energy leaders about the contribution GeoExchange technology can make to U.S. energy independence as well as note DMEA's support of Green Power, Net Metering, BioEnergy and emerging technologies such as fuel cells."

United States Senator Ken Salazar's office coordinated the January 11th Renewable Energy Summit to discuss the great and immediate potential for the production of renewable energy through wind, solar and biofuel production in Colorado and the United States. "Our national security depends on greater energy independence," Senator Salazar explained. "We can turn that obligation into an opportunity for Colorado and our nation. Renewable energy will be a cornerstone of our future independence."

Go to www.dmea.com to read more about how DMEA is helping our members, state and nation plug into renewable earth energy and how we encourage the development of a broad array of renewable energy technologies.

February 2006

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