NRDP-Energy Partnerships
Here are some of the successful partnerships that State Councils have had with the Energy Department. For more information, contact Office of Community Development Desk Officer Ella Ennis.
Rural Partners, the Rural Development Council in Illinois partnered with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs to conduct an energy survey through the "Rural Life Panel." The Rural Life Panel is a survey tool with some 8,000 rural participants. For any survey some 2,000 panelists are drawn to participate. In 1997 the Council conducted two surveys on energy usage. The first dealt with recycling, housing, utilities and energy utilization. Usable surveys were returned by 1848 people. Among the survey's findings were: 1) Residents made energy efficiency home improvements for financial and comfort reasons. 2) Policy-makers should address perceived disincentives for making energy efficient home improvements presented by historic preservation regulations and property tax assessments. The second survey was a home-builders' survey that among other topics looked at energy efficient materials usage and cost, and energy efficient feature requested by home buyers.
The FORVM for Rural Maryland, Maryland's Rural Development Council, is actively engaged in the Maryland Public Service Commission's Round table process on electric utility restructuring. The FORVM also sponsored a panel of experts' discussion on electric restructuring at its Spring Conference in 1998, providing up-to-date information to the State's rural leaders on the approaching electric deregulation and its impact on rural citizens.
Massachusetts Rural Development Council's work with rural communities answered the need for information dissemination about energy deregulation's impact on rural business and local government communities. The Council sponsored four major educational sessions and was able to bring many partner groups together to explore alternate methods for small electric users to take advantage of electric deregulation, such as cooperatives and aggregation.
The Sandia National Laboratory, which is operates under a contract from the U.S. Department of Energy, is diversifying its laboratory uses to provide technical assistance to small rural companies as they develop new products. The New Mexico Rural Development Response Council is assisting Sandia National Laboratory with getting the word out on the availability of their laboratory to test new products and to solve problems. The outreach to rural communities and companies by the Council's rural network helps to raise awareness of this unique opportunity for small companies.
The Ohio Rural Development Program actively coordinated and promoted the Coal Combustion Products (CCP) Pilot Program in the state of Ohio. By-products from the combustion of coal create a concrete-like material that can be used in agriculture, highway and related civil engineering, mine/land reclamation, and manufacturing applications. Because coal combustion occurs more often in rural locations, its by-products provide these areas with the opportunity to cost-effectively develop the material. In addition, using this material productively protects the environment by eliminating the need to dispose of it in landfills. The Department of Energy has been an important partner in this project.
