In February 2010, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council) estimated that almost 85 percent of the new demand for electricity over the next 20 years could be met with energy efficiency. The Council's Sixth Power Plan nearly doubled the region's target for conservation: from 2010 to 2014, the region should develop at least 1,200 average megawatts of cost-effective energy efficiency.
BPA engaged in an extensive, multi year set of regional processes, to define its future power supply role. BPA adopted a Regional Dialogue Policy, which defined its potential resource acquisition obligations for power sales after 2011, whether at Tier 1 or Tier 2 rates. BPA continued to treat energy efficiency as a resource and define its goals in terms of megawatts of energy efficiency acquired.
BPA's Energy Efficiency organization conducted the Energy Efficiency Post-2011 Public Process from January 2009 to March 2011 to align EE's program with BPA's Long-Term Regional Dialogue Policy and tiered rates methodology and to engage customers and other regional stakeholders about the role BPA should play in developing, incentivizing and monitoring energy efficiency programs after 2011.
Two primary documents form the foundation of the EE Post-2011 program:
- "Energy Efficiency Post-2011 Policy Framework": provided the high level policy framework, such as energy efficiency costs collected the in Tier 1 rate and the Energy Efficiency Incentive (EEI) funding mechanism with budgets allocated on a Tier 1 Cost Allocator basis.
- "Energy Efficiency Post-2011 Implementation Program": provided implementation specifics that nest within the larger policy framework, such as means for utilizing and transferring EEI funding, and paying performance payments on a cents per kilowatt-hour basis.
