Are energy efficiency programs having an impact on electrical generation capacity?
PERKINS: PG&E, an investor owned utility, is on its way to deferring 700 megawatts of generation through efficiency incentives and rebates. PG&E is able to profit from incentives by working closely with the California Public Utility Commission to allocate a percentage of fees towards efficiency programs. Elsewhere, municipal utilities such as Austin Energy provide incentives via mandates such as compliance with City of Austin Climate Protection Plan. In general, the costs of incentive programs are spread across all utility customer bills.
