The Geezers and the Geeks: Passing the Thumb Drive of Energy Efficiency Knowledge Danielle Gidding, Bonneville Power Administration Tom Eckman, Northwest Power and Conservation Council Kenneth Keating

Background  The EE Industry is facing a major transition in its’ workforce New staff with 5 years of less of experience A cohort of experts with over 25 years of experience Not a large group of staff in between  As the ‘elders’ of EE begin to retire, the industry is facing a huge loss of information, knowledge and lessons learned if we don’t transfer from one generation to the next 2

The Knowledge Gap  The short overlap of EE generations has created a knowledge gap that can skip over 30 years of experience  In the northwest, little succession planning has occurred  Risks: re-inventing the wheel Missing historical perspective Missing foundational principals 3

So many questions, so little time!  What do we need to know? With 30 years of knowledge, which insights should be passed on?  How do we know what we need to know? Don’t know the questions to ask until we confront them  How do we share it? Need effective channels of communication and documentation in ever shortening time frame 4

Lessons Learned from Energy Efficiency’s ‘Wild Ride’(PNW)  What are the drivers?  What have we learned?  What do we pass on? 5

Energy Efficiency Business Cycle Drivers  Important to understand the causes of the boom and bust cycles, to be prepared for the next one 1.Energy costs Actual or forecast changes are biggest driver 2.Economic cycles Booms and recessions impact demand and load growth 3.Public policy Environmental concerns EE/Renewable resource standards 6

What We Learned on the Way Up  Taking advantage of the boom Increased funding; more options for programs High energy prices; more measures C/E  What to Avoid Losing rigor in savings Developing unsustainable programs Over-promising Insufficient Evaluation Not documenting the experience 7

What We Learned on the Way Down  Don’t oversell the flexibility of EE Even though EE can be quickly ramped up or down, ramping down can increase long term cost and risk to power system  Fighting for your budget If no need for new resources, why do EE? Identification of “lost opportunity” savings and “capability building” 8

How Do We Share It?  Don’t want to recreate the mistakes of the past or reinvent the wheel  Knowing what to pass on Knowledge not categorized by ‘important’ or ‘not important’ for next generation by the “elders”  Recognizing what lessons will apply in the future Can be difficult to identify what needs to be learned  How do we do it? Videos (YouTube) Forums? Retreats? 9

Conclusions  Seeing the pattern of boom and bust, would think the EE industry has learned its lesson  Even today, utilities facing low energy prices and no load growth are considering cutting EE programs and budgets  Important to understand the key values and logic of EE to not repeat the mistakes of the past 10

Contact Information Danielle Gidding Bonneville Power Administration Tom Eckman Northwest Power and Conservation Council Kenneth Keating 11