Energy Trust finished the first three months of 2013 with significant activity across most program offerings. Highlights from the first quarter of the year (January – March 2013) include:

• Two programs—Production Efficiency and New Buildings—were recognized as 2013 Exemplary Programs by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
• Collaboration continued with the Oregon Department of Energy on Governor Kitzhaber’s Cool Schools initiative, engaging 35 schools in 11 districts for project scoping assistance and targeted audits since 2011.
• EPS™, an energy performance score, launched as a tool to assess an existing home’s energy use, carbon impact and estimated monthly utility costs.
• EPS has been available for newly constructed homes since 2009, and 270 homes received EPS ratings in the first quarter—25 percent more than in the first quarter of 2012.
• Energy-efficiency savings from multifamily custom and prescriptive projects continued to grow compared to previous years.
• The New Buildings program enrolled 115 projects—the highest number of new projects enrolled in a first quarter since 2009.
• Industrial customers enrolled in Strategic Energy Management services reached 34—the highest enrollment to date.
• Customers receiving onsite Home Energy Reviews began receiving Custom Home Energy Reports that provide savings estimates, over one and five years, associated with recommended energy-saving measures and information on energy-saving opportunities in their homes.
• Energy Trust engaged with 145 minority, women and emerging small business certified trade ally contractors throughout the state.
• The Farm Power Misty Meadows Dairy biogas project in Tillamook reached commercial operation in February, and is expected to generate 0.69 average megawatts of renewable energy in 2013. The anaerobic digestion cogeneration project does even more than generate green energy—it also benefits water quality for watersheds and helps the dairy manage materials.
• In coordination with the City of Portland, Energy Trust facilitated the Bucks for Buildings rebate program, which paid additional rebates to small commercial facilities for energy-efficiency upgrades qualifying for Energy Trust incentives.

In total, Energy Trust saved 3.7 aMW of electricity and 410,926 annual therms of natural gas, and generated 0.1 aMW of renewable power. Including the first quarter of 2013, Energy Trust has made significant progress toward its five-year Strategic Plan goals for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Read more Quarter 1 highlights in the publically available report to the Oregon Public Utility Commission.