Report: More utilities to dangle incentives for going green

There are plenty of enticing green technologies out there that can reduce energy bills, such as virtualization, MAID, or solar panels. While the potential long-term savings are evident, the upfront costs can be offputting for businesses and individuals. Yet in some states, such as California, utilities dangle cash incentives to lure users and businesses to the green side — and more utilities will be following suit in the not-too-distant future, according to an article in The Christian Science Monitor.

Why do some utilities push and pay for conservation while others don’t? It’s to do with a concept called decoupling. Specifically, state regulators “decouple utility profits from electricity production,” as CSM explains it.

“The main idea is that by rearranging the incentive structure, regulators can give utilities clear incentives to push energy efficiency and conservation without hurting their bottom lines. Under the new rules in California, for example, electric utilities could make as much as $150 million extra if they can persuade Californians to save some $2 billion worth of power, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based environmental group.”

States such as Idaho, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont have adopted decoupling this year; nine others, including Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, are exploring it, according to CSM.

It’s certainly a positive trend, indicative of how the green movement is taking hold, inspiring businesses, individuals, and government bodies to rethink their practices for the better. And it certainly a potential boon for companies with a green-tech roadmap who need just a bit more incentive to invest in sustainable technology.

(Thanks, by the way to Sun Eco-Responsibility VP Dave Douglas over at Sun for introducing me to the decoupling concept.)