PUC eases rules of energy efficiency program

California regulators Thursday lowered the bar for an energy-efficiency program to allow utilities to earn about $89 million in customer-funded incentives for achieving as little as 65% of the power savings goals laid out for them. The California Public Utilities Commission also ruled that utilities could keep such incentives awarded to them even if a subsequent audit showed that the companies did not achieve the savings they reported.

Under that plan, utilities that achieved 65% of energy- efficiency goals collectively would have been penalized $142 million. Incentives would accrue after the companies reached 85% of the goals.

The energy-efficiency program "allows utilities to earn real money on an annual basis for their progress in meeting the state's energy-efficiency goals without having to worry that they'll have to give those monies back," he said. "This will significantly strengthen the motivation the utilities have to aggressively pursue energy efficiency."