Release Date: October 31, 2005
Contact: PG&E News Department (415) 973-5930

Business Energy Coalition Members Earn $500,000 in Incentives for Reducing Energy Demand in San Francisco This Summer PG&E Donates its Incentive of over $20,000 to Low-Income Energy Assistance Program

SAN FRANCISCO—An alliance of businesses, civic and state properties in San Francisco, in partnership with the Business Energy Coalition, reduced energy usage in San Francisco this summer by 10 megawatts on seven different occasions this summer. The reduction is equivalent to the amount of energy used by 7,500 homes on each occasion.

The goal of the Business Energy Coalition is to demonstrate that businesses and other groups can join forces to reduce energy during peak demand days and help avoid power emergencies. Each participating business receives an incentive, approximately $50 per kilowatt (kW) reduction, for reducing a pre-determined amount of energy. The reduction by the 33 participating businesses will mean a total incentive payout of $500,000 —PG&E will earn $21,426 for reducing demand at its three San Francisco buildings by a total of 429 kW during the seven event days that have been called to date.

The PG&E incentive will be given directly to a charitable organization. Because of high natural gas prices this winter, the utility will donate its portion to the Salvation Army’s REACH (Relief for Energy Assistance through Community Help) program. The Salvation Army will receive the first half of the incentive ($10,700) this week, followed by the second payment in early 2006. The $21,426 will go directly to these customers since PG&E has already contributed $340,000 this year to cover the program’s entire administrative costs. The REACH program provides one-time energy assistance of up to $200 to low-income energy users to pay their bills.

“We know this will be a particularly difficult year for our most vulnerable customers to keep warm while paying their bills,” says Dan Quigley, PG&E director of charitable contributions. “Therefore, this contribution is only one of the many ways PG&E will assist its customer this winter season.” Other participating businesses will give their incentives directly to their tenants for helping to reduce energy this summer.

After a comprehensive assessment, The Energy Coalition’s engineers design customized energy curtailment protocols for each facility in the group. When a load curtailment is requested, members are contacted via pager, email, fax and phone. Following the protocols brings energy loads down to the designated Firm Service Level (FSL) – the level promised by the Coalition when a curtailment event is called. A real-time load monitoring system enabling updates in one to fifteen minute intervals makes it possible for members to identify exactly how their energy reduction requirement is being met. Maximums are set on the frequency with which curtailment will be requested, and on the number of hours the reduced load must be maintained. Each member is given an incentive to participate with a capacity payment of approximately $50/kW annually. If the group fails to meet the established Firm Service Level, a reserve fund provides for shortfall penalties.

The first pilot test program will run through December 31, 2005. Participants are notified a day in advance, or the day of, when the need to reduce or curtail electricity use is determined. It is hoped this program will be expanded to other cites throughout PG&E’s service area.

About the Program The Business Energy Coalition is an initiative of Pacific Gas and Electric Company and The Energy Coalition. Working together, the 33 member buildings of the Business Energy Coalition successfully and significantly cut back on San Francisco’s downtown energy use to alleviate stress on the local and statewide power system.

Participating San Francisco Business

Argent Hotel	Marriott Hotel
Bank of America	Seagate Properties
CAC Real Estate Management Company	Shorenstein Properties (4 buildings)
CNET Networks	State Compensation Insurance Fund
California Public Utilities Commission	The Fairmont Hotel
Cushman and Wakefield Property Management (4 buildings)	The Palace Hotel
Deka Immobilien Investment, Terwilliger Management Company	Triple Net Properties, LLC (2 buildings)
Four Seasons Hotel	Pacific Gas and Electric Company (2 buildings)
Hilton Hotel, San Francisco	Union Bank of California (2 buildings)
KQED	United States Post Office (2 buildings)
Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group, Transamerica Center