The following links are useful resources for those interested in energy issues and programs (listed in alphabetical order):
Alliance to Save Energy
The Alliance to Save Energy is a nonprofit coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit the environment, the economy, and national security.
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
ACEE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental protection.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional organization focused on technical, educational and research issues of the engineering and technology communities.
Association of Energy Engineers (AEE)
AEE is a professional association committed to helping their firms and clients increase energy efficiency, utilize innovative energy service options, enhance environmental management programs, upgrade facility operation, and improve equipment performance.
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
ASHRAE is a professional association that focuses on heating, ventilation, air conditioning or refrigeration through such disciplines as indoor air quality and energy conservation.
Building Commissioning Association (BCA)
The Building Commissioning Association (BCA) promotes building commissioning practices that maintain high professional standards. The BCA is dedicated to developing a common, industry-wide understanding of what constitutes effective building commissioning.
California Home Energy Efficiency Rating System, Inc. (CHEERS)
CHEERS is a California Statewide non-profit organization dedicated to promoting energy efficiency. A CHEERS rating is a nationally recognized and accredited computerized analysis of the specific home being inspected that can be used to secure additional financing for improvements, to identify an existing home's energy efficiency and to identify "cost-effective" energy improvements that will reduce the costs of electric and gas utility bills.
California Energy Commission (CEC)
The California Energy Commission is the state's primary energy policy and planning agency that oversees forecasting future energy needs and keeping historical energy data, licensing thermal power plants 50 megawatts or larger, promoting energy efficiency through appliance and building standards, developing energy technologies and supporting renewable energy and planning for and directing state response to energy emergencies.
California Independent System Operator
The California ISO is a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of planning and operating a safe and reliable electric transmission system. It oversees the open and non-discriminatory electric transmission services and facilitates appropriate investment in electric transmission and generation infrastructure. It follows the operating standards called out by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) and the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC).
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
The CPUC regulates privately owned electric, telecommunications, natural gas, water and transportation companies, in addition to household goods movers and rail safety.
Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE)
The consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE), a nonprofit public-benefits corporation, develops national initiatives to promote the manufacture and purchase of energy-efficient products and services. Our goal is to induce lasting structural and behavioral changes in the marketplace, resulting in the increased adoption of energy-efficient technologies.
http://www.caddet.org/Center for the Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy Technologies (CADDET)
CADDET offers a range of printed, electronic and online material. CADDET provides an international information network to help managers, engineers, architects and researchers find out about the energy-saving techniques that have worked in other countries.
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency
A website produced by the North Carolina Solar Center that has information on financial incentives offered by government agencies and utilities to homeowners and businesses that incorporate renewable energy and energy efficient features when building, remodeling or buying appliances. To find incentives in California, select the state from the map on the home page. Subsequent pages outline tax credits, grants, loans, rebates, bond programs, property tax exemptions and other rewards. Also on the site are contractor license requirements and other state and local regulations.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
EERE develops and deploys efficient and clean energy technologies that meet our nation's
energy needs, enhance our environment, and strengthen our national competitiveness.
Energy Information Administration (EIA)
EIA is a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy that provides policy-independent data, forecasts, and analysis to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.
ENERGY STAR Program
Energy Star, a program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy is a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Federal Energy Management Program
The Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) works to reduce the cost and environmental impact of the Federal government by advancing energy efficiency and water conservation, promoting the use of distributed and renewable energy, and improving utility management decisions at Federal sites.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
FERC is an independent regulatory agency within the Department of Energy.
California's statewide energy efficiency marketing and outreach campaign. A partnership of California's utilities, residents, businesses, institutions, government agencies and nonprofit organizations working to save energy.
Home Energy Saver
The Home Energy Saver website contains information and interactive tools to help consumers learn how to save on their energy bill.
IEEE
IEEE is a scientific and educational professional organization directed toward the advancement of the theory and practice of electrical engineering.
Illuminating Engineering Society of North America
The IESNA is the recognized technical authority on illumination with the objective to communicate information on all aspects of good lighting practice to its members, to the lighting community, and to consumers through a variety of programs, publications, and services.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
The LEED Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
NREL is one of the leading government research institutions for energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.
New Buildings Institute
The New Buildings Institute, Inc.(Institute) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public benefits corporation dedicated to making buildings better for people and the environment, and was incorporated in California in December 1997. Their mission is to promote energy efficiency in buildings through policy development, research, guidelines and codes.
Northern California Power Agency
The Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) is a California Joint Action Agency. NCPA membership is open to municipalities, rural electric cooperatives, irrigation districts and other publicly owned entities interested in the purchase, aggregation, scheduling and management of electrical energy.
Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance is a non-profit group of electric utilities, state governments, public interest groups and industry representatives committed to bringing affordable, energy-efficient products and services to the marketplace.
Southern California Edison Company (SCE)
SCE is one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S. and the largest subsidiary of Edison International. SCE provides electric service to 12 million individuals in 835 cities and communities, and 285,000 commercial, industrial, and non-profit customers in thriving areas of central and southern California. For more than a century, SCE has built a system of 34,000 underground circuit miles and more than 72,000 miles of overhead circuitry, maintained by 423 transmission and distribution crews. Delivering electrical service requires the days and nights of 12,642 dedicated SCE employees.
Southern California Gas Company (The Gas Company)
The Gas Company is the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility serving 19 million people through 5.4 million gas meters in more than 530 communities. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Gas Company is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE), a Fortune 500 company based in San Diego. The Gas Company's service area encompasses 23,000 square miles of diverse terrain throughout most of Central and Southern California, from Visalia to the Mexican border.
US Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy
Governmental department whose mission is to advance energy technology and promote related innovation in the United States. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
US Green Building Council C4 California Central Coast Chapter
California Central Coast Chapter USGBC (C4) is a collaborative effort of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties to form a regional U.S. Green Building Council Chapter to address the unique environmental opportunities and challenges specific to that bioregion. This collaboration has emerged from a 15 year history of increasingly overlapping, and shared efforts toward the common goal of creating sustainable communities in the context of our shared scenic landscape of smaller urban areas surrounded by agricultural lands and coastal boundary.
http://www.ofee.gov/ The Smart Communities Network SCN helps communities design and implement innovative strategies that enhance the local economy as well as the local environment and quality of life. Its website contains a "tool kit" of sustainable information including manuals, workbooks, bibliographies, data bases, case studies, and model codes and ordinances.
