Summer Edition

2022

Sunny Greetings from Johnson Consulting Group!

“Warm summer sun, shine kindly here. Warm southern wind, blow softly here. Green sod above, lie light, lie light. Good night, dear Heart, Good night, good night.” 
(Mark Twain)

Summer was Mark Twain’s favorite season, and one summer long ago, I first discovered The Adventures of Tom Sawyer during an idyllic vacation at a lake cottage in Northern Minnesota. A few days ago, I was floating (not sailing) on my mini-cat sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay, recalling my childhood memories of boating and floating in the Minnesota lakes and rivers. As we paddled our boat towards shore, the memories from Mark Twain’s books came flooding back, as he genuinely caught the magic and mystery of hot summer days.

I hope you all have a chance to relax and enjoy simple pleasures, like spending time doing nothing except appreciating the great outdoors.

Have a wonderful summer, and I look forward to catching up with many of you at upcoming conferences in August.

Best wishes,

Dr. Katherine Johnson (aka KJ),

President

Arkansas’ IOUs Continue to Exceed Program Goals

As the Independent Evaluation Monitor (IEM), the Johnson Consulting Group team completed the PY2021 Annual EM&V Report, which summarizes the findings from the seven portfolio evaluations conducted by third-party evaluators. Some key takeaways from this annual report revealed:

  • Electric and gas savings have exceeded the utilities’ combined savings goals for the past six years. For example, the four electric utilities netted 377,161 MWh of savings, reaching 109 percent of the combined electric savings goal. The three gas utilities netted over 6 million therms, roughly 8 percent higher than the combined gas savings goal.
  • Non-Energy Benefits (NEBs) significantly increased each utility’s overall benefits. Accounting for NEBs comes at a low cost and identifies additional savings from existing programs. It also substantially improves program economic performance as measured by TRC. 
  • Overall participant satisfaction levels remained high across all utilities and programs, with participants indicating satisfaction with the utility as their service provider.
  • The Consistent Weatherization Approach (CWA), a statewide weatherization program, completed 10,945 audits, leading to 17,692 projects in PY2021. Overall, the individual utility CWA programs installed 92,903 measures in energy “inefficient” homes.

Full details regarding these findings are available at the following link:

IEM PY2021 EM&V Annual Report (Arkansas Public Service Commission)

Arkansas Commission Approves Potential Study Request for Proposals

In Docket 13-002-U, Order 64, the APSC approved the Parties Working Collaboratively (PWC)’s Request for Proposal to conduct a Potential Study. The PWC will retain the Potential Study Consultant to use a reasonable and appropriate bottom-up analysis to inform the Commission of achievable, cost-effective energy efficiency savings targets. The Potential Study results will inform the development of future EE energy savings targets in Arkansas and future program planning, implementation, and independent evaluation of EE programs. The RFP will be posted in Mid-August on the Commission website and other energy efficiency websites.

Arkansas’ IOUs Continue to Exceed Program Goals

Katherine is now hosting The KJ Show on BoldBraveTV.com every Wednesday at 11 a.m. Eastern. Her first eight episodes covered a range of topics, including Beneficial Electrification, Energy Equity, Forgotten Appliances and Women in the Energy Industry. Past shows are broadcast on various Internet platforms, including YouTube, Spotify, Spreaker, Google, IHEART Radio, BoldBraveTalk.com and multiple international platforms. In September, her show will be broadcast by Apple and Amazon. Check out her show, and please call 866-451-1451 at 11 a.m. Wednesdays and join the conversation on the continually evolving and changing energy market.

 

On July 23rd, Katherine will have an interview with Emmy Award Winner Jill Nicolini on the Bold Brave TV Network. Jill will chat with Katherine about her show, the energy industry and her novel, Grit & Granite (https://kj-writes.com/).

 

Keep an eye out for Katherine’s upcoming Energy Central Special Magazine article discussing challenges with residential energy programs, which will be posted on Energy Central in late July.

 

Please tune in to The KJ Show Wednesdays starting May 25, 11 a.m. Eastern; or catch up on the show topics in archived episodes available in both audio (The KJ Show) and video formats (The KJ Show).

Continuing to Support NEEA’s Initiatives

We continue to support the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)’s efforts in several areas:

  • Completed a Label Awareness Study of market actors for the XMP Initiative;
  • Serving as an advisor to ADM Associates’ non-participant survey in the XMP Initiative; and
  • Starting the second year of the Ductless Heat Pump (DHP) Long Term Monitoring Tracking Study (LTMT) with the study completed by December 2022.

Completed Energy Trust of Oregon’s Residential Process Evaluation

The Johnson Consulting Group team completed a comprehensive process evaluation of Energy Trust’s Residential program. Specifically, this evaluation summarized program operations and documented the effects of its recent program restructuring. Overall, the Johnson Consulting Group team interviewed 123 respondents in either a single or group setting across the following areas:

  • In-depth interviews with Residential program staff
  • In-depth interviews with utility staff
  • NEEA program staff in a group setting; and
  • 60 individual in-depth interviews with participating contractors, retailers, distributors, builders, verifiers, and staff from Community-Based Organizations (CBOs).

The key takeaway from this process evaluation:

The Energy Trust’s Residential program continues to adapt and evolve in a changing market. Specifically, the Energy Trust staff were able to develop new program offerings and strategies to assist residential customers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the wildfires. The interviews with 123 respondents indicated that although some Energy Trust program offerings missed the mark, the Residential program staff remains committed to developing viable program solutions for their customers throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington.

The full process evaluation report will be posted on the Energy Trust’s website later this summer.

New Board Appointment

Katherine was appointed to the Crummer School’s Alumni Board of Directors. She is honored to support the Crummer School’s outstanding MBA program, rated the #1 MBA in Florida by Forbes.

The Crummer School offers graduate programs affiliated with Rollins College and has been instrumental in her professional development (https://crummer.rollins.edu/).

Where in the World is KJ?

  • Wednesdays, 11 a.m. Eastern: The KJ Show on BoldBraveTV.com The KJ Show
  • August 9, 2022, Arkansas PWC Technical Forum to discuss updates to Arkansas’ TRM 9.1

Upcoming Presentations

Katherine has a busy conference schedule and will be presenting at the follow events in the next few months:

Fun Stuff

  Congratulations to our newest graduates!

In May, my son, Benjamin Johnson received his Masters’s in Divinity from Gordon Cromwell Seminary in Massachusetts. This is the culmination of many years of dedication, hard work and challenges. Benjamin currently serves as the President of Mount Union Lutheran Church and has been assisting with the Church Council and sharing his theological insights. Now we will see what the Lord has in mind for his future.

Jasper Lee, Ph.D. My nephew received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Miami (FL). He has a post-doctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts General (Harvard University) in Boston, MA. The link below shows a sweet picture of Jasper, his fiancée Kayla and my sister, Carolyn. So proud of you and richly deserved.

 

Click for photos

Join Our Mailing List