So what exactly are you doing?

We are funding a CFL energy efficiency program in Texas. We will distribute up to a million CFLs to the program participants, along with educational information to help them save even more energy.  

Why do you want to distribute 1,000,000 CFL’s in Texas?

We are currently involved in GHG-reduction projects located in India, Costa Rica, South America, US  and Canada. Since we are located in Texas, we have wanted to do a substantial project in Texas. In Texas, the majority of our power comes from coal and natural gas. In our program, we calculate GHG reductions using the emissions factor for the State of Texas. This is the boundary for the Texas CFL Distribution Project. We would probably not be able to fund a project like this in a state that produces most of its power from Hydro or Nuclear.

Why CFLs?

This simple technology contains great “bang” for the buck. They significantly reduce demand side consumption, thereby reducing the participants’ electric bill. It is our hope that they will see that selecting energy efficient appliances and devices can have a positive impact on their wallet, thereby changing behavior. For GCS, it is a scalable GHG emissions reduction. We feel this spells a win-win for all parties.   

Why are you only working with Coops and Nonprofits?

The non-profit agencies such as The Austin Housing Authority serve the lowest income residents in the community. These households have a substantial financial barrier in implementing energy efficiency by themselves. So it results in a project that has proven additionality. Texas Public Utility Commission §25.181 spells out Energy Efficiency guidelines and goals that Electric Utilities will be bound by and will have to meet. They have to submit their plans yearly to the PUC. Texas Electric Coops are NOT bound by this and therefore the project satisfies requirements against double counting of emissions reductions. Basically we are taking steps to ensure that in deploying this program, we do not take credit for something that would have happened anyway.

All the CFLs are given at no cost, what is the catch?

There is no catch. However, in following the United Nations methodology for Energy Efficiency Improvement Projects, there are rules that we have to follow. For example; in order to reduce the possibility that we create a secondary market for the CFLs, we need to exchange an incandescent bulb for each CFL. We will also limit the number of bulbs available to any individual household. We have made this information and more available in the program guideline document. In following this process we have to be transparent in what and how we are doing this program.

What is in it for GCS? Surely there is something for all this work.

We are following the UN method and bearing the cost and the risk to get this project validated and verified by certified 3rd parties.   The reason is that we want to make these programs sustainable and not a single “big bang” one-time event.  Upon execution and deployment of the program we will be verified by a 3rd party as to our measure. We will be then able to request credits for the avoided emissions. We will take these reductions, also known as carbon offsets, to the voluntary market for sale. The proceeds from this activity will allow us to repeat this process.