Directly following EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger’s welcoming remarks, RAP Senior Policy Advisor Eoin Lees presented an overview (in English) of energy efficiency best practices and discussed how they are reflected in the recently revised EU energy efficiency directive. More than 200 participants from German government, industry, and civil society participated in the conference. Germany’s energy efficiency…

On September 4, RAP Principal Meg Gottstein briefed interested stakeholders on the role of energy efficiency in market reform proposals to address the reliability challenges associated with a growing share of variable renewables in the power mix.  RAP’s “Beyond Capacity Markets” checklist for evaluating these proposals and “What Lies Beyond Capacity Markets” paper emphasize the…

Approximately 50 stakeholders considered the challenges facing German’s power sector at a conference hosted by German financial media company, Handelsblatt. RAP Senior Advisor, Mike Hogan, discussed wholesale energy market design and highlighted RAP’s recent paper, “What Lies Beyond Capacity Markets?” in his presentation. Mr. Hogan shared his expertise on global experience and best practices for…

Chinese government and international experts will gather in Zhuhai, Guandong Province, China this week to discuss best practices and methodologies for reducing the carbon intensity of China’s power generation sector. With support from RAP, Chiara Di Mambra, from the European Commission Directorate-General for Climate Action, will join the group to discuss the European Union’s Emissions Trading…

Members of the California Energy Efficiency Industry Council explored the effectiveness of different types of energy efficiency program administration models in a recent webinar. Rich Sedano, RAP Principal, highlighted the findings from RAP’s 2011 update to Who Should Deliver Ratepayer Funded Energy Efficiency? In the absence of a study comparing the effectiveness of the different…

As part of an ongoing bilateral cooperation between Germany’s and Israel’s Environmental Ministries, a 2-day workshop was held in Tel Aviv to discuss energy efficiency policies and practices.  Staff and key managers from Israel’s air quality and utility regulatory agencies participated, as well as NGOs, members from industry and Israel’s state owned electric utility company. …

On July 25, 2012, the Regulatory Assistance Project, along with the Energy Research Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Energy Foundation China Sustainable Energy Program, organized a meeting in Beijing entitled “Workshop on Best Practices for Shale Gas Development in China: Policies and Technologies to Minimize Environmental Impacts.” The workshop brought together experts from government,…

The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) is hosting a webinar to discuss the current status of building energy codes in the U.S. and examples that demonstrate how energy efficiency program administrators and regulators can integrate energy code support programs into utility energy efficiency portfolio goals. Moderator: Phyllis Reha, Commissioner, Minnesota PUC Introduction:  David Farnsworth, Senior Associate…

Germany’s Ministry of Environment invited RAP to participate on a small working group of government policy advisors and experts to develop recommendations for implementation of the Energiewende (“energy turn”), which calls for a phase out of all nuclear power plants by 2022 and a minimum of 80% renewables in the power mix by 2050.  The…

The U.S.-China Energy Efficiency Forum was sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy and China’s National Development and Reform Commission. Rick Weston spoke on a panel that included Gary Locke, U.S. Ambassador to China, Xie Ji, Deputy Director-General of the NDRC, and Jennifer Matz, Director of the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Weston…