Six Companies Submit Bids in Response to Oakland RFP
In what the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT), of Sacramento, Calif., called "one of the clearest
signs yet that California's green power market is alive and well," six different companies responded to the City of Oakland's Request for Proposals (RFP) to supply up to 9 MW of green power capacity--enough electricity to serve approximately 27,000 residential customers.  The bids for supplying municipal buildings, street lights and traffic lights with green electricity for one year came from the following firms:  Fairfield, Calif.-based BP Solarex, one of the largest manufacturers of solar photovoltaic panels in the world;
Cleen 'n Green, of San Jose, Calif., a green power marketer which purchases its supplies from the Cupertino-based Automated Power Exchange, which runs a daily green power spot sales market;  Tustin, Calif.-based Commonwealth Energy, the state's leading power marketer with over 80,000 customers, which buys most of its electricity from the largest geothermal power plant in the world in the Geysers region of Lake and Sonoma counties;  Los Angeles-based PowerSource, a firm that recently entered the
California green power market explicitly because of the RFP;  The Oakland-based Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), which purchases green electricity for many of its 59 city, county and local agency and district members from San Jose-based Calpine; and Burlington, Vt.-based GreenMountain.com, whose green power products include electricity generated from a new solar photovoltaic power plant in Mendocino County (developed by Berkeley-based PowerLight) and new wind farms near Palm Springs (developed by San Diego-based SeaWest).  The six bids are undergoing an internal review to assure compliance with the City of Oakland's ordinances regarding small and local businesses, political practices and other qualitative issues. Over the next several weeks, Oakland's Public Works Agency will complete its initial evaluation and develop a list of firms to be interviewed. Following
interviews, staff will recommend an energy service provider and present its recommendation to the full City Council for final selection.
At 5 MW, Santa Monica is California's largest current municipal purchaser of green electricity. If Oakland buys 100% green power, it will supplant Santa Monica as the global green city leader. The following California cities already also purchase green power: Albany, Arcata, Benicia, Coronado, Cupertino, Daly City, Davis, Del Mar, El Cajon, Encinitas, Escondido, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mill Valley, Oceanside, Orinda, Palmdale, Petaluma, Poway, Salinas, San Mateo, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, Santee, Vacaville and Vallejo. County governments purchasing green power include Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Monterey, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Sonoma.  Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly #883  2/4/2000.

Cleen 'n Green to Switch Name to Go-Green.com
Preferred Energy Services, Inc. (PES) announced recently that it will markets its renewable energy electricity offering under the
name Go-Green.com. The company plans to sell power generated from renewable energy resources on the retail energy market.  PES said it has been selling all forms of renewable power produced using wind, biomass, and geothermal energy in the California
marketplace since deregulation began two years ago. The company had been using the name cleen 'n green energy to market its
renewable power offerings. PES hopes the name change will be a first step towards making the renewable energy venture into its
own company.  "We want to further cement our identity as a renewable energy provider and the name and website Go- Green.com says it all," said president and founder Richard Kohl. "We have worked diligently to ensure that our power and practices are environmentally sound and we have been rewarded with customer loyalty as a result." Last month, the company announced an agreement with the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). Under the agreement, the company will provide "green" power for more than 450 of ACWA's member agencies.  Go-Green.com sells 100 percent renewable power to residential customers at a discount when compared to utility power that is generated using fossil-based fuels such as coal and natural gas.  Contact: Dennis Dyc, PES, phone 408-360-9356.  Source: Business Wire 3/30/2000 via EIN Renewable Energy Today 4/7/2000.
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For more information on Green Power go to:  http://www.eren.doe.gov/greenpower/   or   http://www.thegreenpowergroup.org/
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Industry Cooperation Encouraged for Reliability Database to Reduce PV Costs
In a concerted effort to reduce the cost -- while increasing the reliability -- of fielded photovoltaic systems, staff at Sandia's System
Applications Department are studying ways in which the life-cycle cost of a PV system can be defined and determined.  A new thrust in this effort is the establishment of centralized database detailing performance, reliability, and cost information on PV
industry systems.  A proposed (unpopulated) template for this study may be accessed at http://www.sandia.gov/pv/reliability.htm  . To ensure a successful venture, the PV industry is being asked to open corporate and agency files for inclusion in the study.  Cooperation from several PV companies has already resulted in their data being incorporated into the database.  While individual data sets will be kept proprietary, overall non-attributable results will be made available to the industry at large.  The database has been developed in a Microsoft Access format and includes a multitude of parameters identified as crucial to an understanding
of overall life-cycle costs of PV systems.  Systems targeted for inclusion in the database will be those that have been fairly well maintained and that contain data on both the systems and their components.  To be considered, a database should be of sufficient
size and with sufficient detail to make it a useful addition to the study.  Preliminary results may be available within a matter of months, but the study is expected to be an ongoing effort that takes into account incremental discoveries.  If your agency, institution, or company has collected data on your installed PV systems and you believe that data might be a useful addition to Sandia's centralized database -- or if you would like to know more about this reliability database -- please contact Larry Moore in Sandia's System Applications Department,  lmmoore@sandia.gov  .  The reliability database should be considered a work-in-progress, and suggestions for improvements are welcomed.  Sandia PV Projects, (505) 844-3698 (phone); (505) 844-6541 (fax);  pvsac@sandia.gov  ,   http://www.sandia.gov/pv  .  Sandia is a partner in the National Center for Photovoltaics (NCPV).  Work performed at Sandia National Laboratories on behalf of the NCPV is funded by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Solar Energy Technologies, James E. Rannels, Director.

Sanyo Electric Co. Plans to Start Construction in February of 3.4 MW Solar Power Generation System
Sanyo Electric Co. (SANYY or 6764) plans to start construction in February 2001 of a Y6 billion, 3.4 megawatt solar power generation system at its Gifu plant, and will consider selling some of the energy generated. Sanyo is also planning to invest a total of Y33 billion from next fiscal year starting April 1 through 2005 to increase its solar battery production.  Six billion yen is about $57M, so that makes Sanyo's plant nearly $17,000/kW--interesting, if true, as that's roughly 3 times the announced cost of recent big PV plants in the U.S.  On the other hand,  the news that they'll spend more than $300M over the next six years to expand PV module production capacity seems about par for the PV business leaders these days. Source:  Dow Jones Newswires 3/31/2000, Japan Business Briefs, via EPRI Green Power News.

Million Solar Roofs Reminder
All qualifying rooftop installations can be registered on the Million Solar Roofs Registry at:  http://www.millionsolarroofs.org  .  Additionally, a database of information on installations can be sent to the DOE and they will register systems for you.

Arizona Distributed Generation and Interconnections (DGI) Working Group Process
As the concluding step for the Distributed Generation and Interconnections (DGI) Working Group process, an Advisory Committee
has been assembled by the Arizona Corporation Commission to draw together the work of the three subject committees (Interconnections Standards; Siting, Certification & Permitting; and Access, Metering & Dispatch) into a final report to the Commission.  The Advisory Committee met three times in January on the 10th, 24th, and 31st to develop the final report.  The next meeting of the Advisory Committee will be February 7, and the Commission is expected to begin the formal rulemaking process in March. For more information, contact Chuck DeCorse of Tucson Electric and Co-chair of the Interconnection Standards Committee at (520) 745-3251 or  cdecorse@tucsonelectric.com  or Jerry Smith of the ACC at (602) 542-7271 or  jds@cc.state.az.us  .  Source: IREC's Interconnection Newsletter 1/1/2000.
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For more information on Renewable Resources go to:  http://www.eren.doe.gov/repis/
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TVA Dedicates New Public Power Institute
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) recently announced the creation of the Public Power Institute. In a ribbon-cutting ceremony late last month, TVA chairman Craven Crowell said the institute's purpose is to assist TVA in its efforts to protect the environment and to be an innovator in the electric utility industry.  The TVA Public Power Institute will help to develop and promote environmentally-friendly ways to produce electricity. Specifically, the institute will focus on proving the efficiency and viability of potential energy-generation technologies, including the frostless heat pump, constructed wetlands, and a microturbine.  Anda Ray will serve as the institute's interim director. TVA scientific and engineering staff will work on research and demonstration efforts. As part of its mission, the institute will seek to form partnerships with utility and research groups. These partnerships will hasten the development of new energy technologies in commercially attractive products for business and household customers. Contact: TVA, Web site  http://www.tva.com/ppifeature/index.htm   , or   http://www.publicpowerinstitute.org   .  Source:  TVA News Release 2/1/2000 via EIN Renewable Energy Today 2/2/2000.

Spreading the Word through Schools Going Solar
The UPVG publication, Schools Going Solar Volume 2, published in September 1999, is a useful information piece explaining the promise and practicality of using solar energy for schools.  It also is a valuable general introduction to photovoltaics, and is an ideal piece for an educational packet.  The entire publication is now viewable at the UPVG Web site:   www.upvg.org/upvg   .   Dr. Patricia Kutzner, a planning consultant and grant writer living in remote Cuba, New Mexico and working on a pro-bono basis with the Eastern Navajo Agency, received a copy of SGS from Mike Thomas of Sandia National Laboratories.  Dr. Kutzner contacted UPVG to order ten additional copies of the brochure.  In a letter, she commented: "The chapter [of the Navajo nation] is very interested in finding out how best to apply solar energy to the community center, elementary school, and Headstart preschool, but everyone is a newcomer to the whole field of solar power.  This publication is ideal for our position on the learning curve.  Really, it is the clearest presentation I have ever seen."  Source:  UPVG Member Memo 2/1/2000.

Solstice
The starting place for information and educational materials on energy efficiency and renewable energy options.
http://solstice.crest.org/index.shtml  .  Source: The Energy Foundation 4/7/2000.
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For more information on Educational Resources go to: http://www.thegateway.org
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FEMP Now Very High Presidential Priority
President Clinton has made the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) one of 24 Priority Management Objectives for
government-wide, heightened attention. At a March President's Management Council meeting, all federal agencies were required to
hand in a scorecard reporting their progress implementing Executive Order 13123. Alliance President David M. Nemtzow stated that the Alliance will be looking at the scorecards, "reading the fine print, and looking closely for the aggressive implementation of this
important executive order."  For more FEMP-related news, see the Alliance's Federal Energy Productivity Newsletter:
http://www.ase.org/e-FFICIENCY/archives/documents/fepnews.htm  .  Source: March/April e-FFICIENCY NEWS from the Alliance to Save Energy
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For more information on legislative activities go to: http://www.kannerandassoc.com/fedenergybills.html
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Energy Information Administration
The Energy Information Administration's site is a good source for energy publications and national energy statistics.
http://www.eia.doe.gov  .  Source: The Energy Foundation 4/7/2000.

International Energy Agency .  Source: The Energy Foundation 4/7/2000.

Renewable Energy Policy Project
REPP supports the advancement of renewable energy technology through policy research. REPP and the non-profit Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST) have merged. A number of articles on renewable energy are available.
http://www.repp.org/  .  Source: The Energy Foundation 4/7/2000.
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For more information on marketing and market research go to: http://www.researchinfo.com/  or  http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/emaa/index.html
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For more information on funding solicitations go to: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html
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