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Bonjour and Welcome to Summer!
 What a great summer it's been
so far for Johnson Consulting Group. Katherine is just back from a
whirlwind trip to Amsterdam and Paris. She presented at the first
European conference for IEPEC "Lessons Learned from the Field:
Key Strategies for Implementing Successful On-The-Bill Financing
Programs." There were about 160 conference attendees and
Katherine's presentation generated a lot of interest, especially among
the Brits, who are trying to develop their own financing strategies to
encourage installations of energy efficient equipment. Thanks
again to our co-authors, Michael Volker of Midwest Energy and George
Willoughby and Wade Shimoda of Hawaiian Electric, for letting us share
their ideas with a larger audience.
Of
course, Paris in June was absolutely delightful and Katherine had a lot
of opportunities to practice her French - especially while watching the
World Cup in Paris. Too bad "Le Bleus" lost.
Check
out the pictures from the trip and the presentations at our photogallery.
Katherine Johnson, President
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Advances in Water
Heaters - One Hot Topic!
New technologies in water heaters are generating buzz from Bismarck to
Denver. Johnson Consulting Group had a full house with about 35
attendees and four outstanding presentations regarding the newest water
heater innovations. Special thanks again to our speakers - Steve
Koep from Rheem/Marathon, Mike Raccullia from GE, Dave Myers from
Utility Marketing Concepts, and Paul Steffes and Jim Deichert from
Steffes. They all provided good insights about the advances in
water heating technologies. This was also the first "live"
online version of this conference, and links will be available to Basin
members.
Johnson Consulting Group will be "reprising" this
workshop. Sponsored by Tri-State G&T and Western Area Power
Administration in Denver on August 31, 2010, this workshop focuses on
new technological advances in heat pump water heaters, program design
and strategies for making water heating an integral part of a renewable
energy program.
In August, Katherine will be delivering a paper at the upcoming ACEEE
conference. This presentation "Staying out of Hot Water: Best
Practices in Implementing Electric and Gas Water Heating Programs"
summarizes the case studies featured in these workshops.
Our newest publication: "Water Heating - No Longer the Forgotten
Appliance" will be coming out later this summer. In this
new book, Katherine will draw on her reviews of utility water heating
programs, case studies and white papers, this book will explain the
role of water heating as a critical residential end-use. It will also
provide a summary of water heating technologies - including heat pump
and solar water heaters, water heating's role as a renewable
energy resource, snapshots of leading water heating manufacturers, and
resources for utility staff.
This fuel-neutral guide will follow the format of Katherine's previous
books on Geothermal Heat Pumps - now in its 4th edition. It
will be published later this summer and include insights from industry
leaders like Rheem/Marathon and GE.
Please
watch our website, www.johnsonconsults.com
for details.
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 Just in -- Katherine's the Newest Utility Commissioner
for the City of Winter Park
Mayor
Ken Bradley appointed Katherine to a three-year term to serve on the
City of Winter Park's Utility Advisory Board. This commission
provides advice to the electric and water utility staff. The
Electric Utility Department began serving retail electric customers on
June 1, 2005, as the City of Winter Park
established its own municipal electric utility. Since beginning
operations, the city has built two electric substations and purchased
Progress Energy Florida's electric distribution facilities within the
city. A utility services contractor has been hired to perform the
operations and maintenance of the electric system. The City has
established the customer service, meter reading, billing, vegetation
management and all the policies and procedures necessary to operate a
utility.
Katherine's first order of business is to review the city's upcoming
energy efficiency and conservation plan and provide some guidance
regarding potential utility financing programs. This is a wonderful
opportunity to learn "first-hand" about the challenges
municipal utilities face when developing and implementing energy
conservation programs and a great reason to visit Winter Park every
month.
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Katherine couldn't miss an opportunity to visit Amsterdam because it
is home to two of her favorite passions- bicycles and canal boats.
The trip was a great introduction to this compact yet elegant city
and hopefully she can get back there soon-- perhaps for the next
IEPEC event in 2012. Meanwhile, check out this picture of this
grand city. Click on the image below to enjoy full size.
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Amsterdam canals
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Evaluation Work for Gas Utilities heats up
Columbia Gas of Virginia's EM&V plans are completed and work
will begin later this summer. The evaluation activities began
with a comprehensive baseline study of residential and small
commercial customers' attitudes regarding energy efficiency and
conservation. This study, fielded by Ward Research, provided
excellent insights regarding customer awareness levels. It will be
instrumental in guiding Columbia Gas of Virginia's outreach and
education activities. There is a tremendous opportunity for
Columbia Gas of Virginia's customers to reduce energy and its
WarmWise Program is off to a great start.
We are supporting
Navigant Consulting (formerly Summit Blue) work on a market
assessment study of energy efficient furnaces for Columbia Gas of
Ohio. This study will focus on the barriers to installing high
efficiency furnaces. Johnson Consulting Group is providing guidance
on sampling strategy and market assessment.
We are also looking forward to starting EM&V work for Colorado
Partners in Energy later this summer. Johnson Consulting Group is
leading the process evaluation activities for four natural gas
utilities in Colorado as a subcontractor to Navigant Consulting
(formerly Summit Blue).
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Where
in the World is KJ?
* 7/26-28 City of Winter Park Utilities Meeting
* 8/2-12 Celebrating the Big 5-0 in Hawaii - check
out the Fall newsletter for details
 * 8/15-20 ACEEE Conference, Pacific
Grove, CA
 * 8/31
Tri-State G&T/ Western "Advances in Water Heating" Workshop,
Denver, CO
 * 9/28 NRECA's On-line
Conference: Katherine will be reprising her
presentation at the NRECAs Connect Conference on "Best
Practices in Energy Efficiency Marketing."
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