Zero Energy Homes (Contact: Nancy Jenkins)

The Zero Energy New Homes solicitation seeks to facilitate research that optimizes designs for California climates and conditions lowering energy use and peak demand in CA; and develops and pilots successful and sustainable PV business models that substantially reduce the cost of ZENH to home buyers. Out of an initial goal to fund a minimum of four proposals covering different optimized design configurations, utility service territories, builders, climate conditions, PV business model, the following three awards were proposed totaling $6,367,221:

• Architectural Energy Corporation: Utility-Focused Market Model for Zero Energy New Homes ($2,904,938)
• Powerlight Corporation: Commercializing Zero Energy Home New Communities ($2,730,283)
• Global Green USA: Affordable Multi-Family ZENH Project ($732,000)

Geothermal Program Activities (Contact: Elaine Sison-Lebrilla)

In December 2003, the Commission released a Program Opportunity Notice (Notice) for the Geothermal Program (Program). Program funding is through the Public Interest Energy Research Program (PIER) and the Geothermal Resources Development Account (GRDA). The Notice announced that up to $7.2 million was available as either grants or loans for projects that directly relate to geothermal research, development and demonstration, geothermal planning, or environmental mitigation. Of these funds, up to $4 million will be for PIER grants and up to $3.2 million will be for GRDA grants or loans.

The following is a list of projects resulting from the solicitation:

1. Northern California Power Agency - Integrated Geothermal Systems Simulation to Entrance Power Generation at the Geysers (PIER);
2. Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Development of Fluid Injection Strategies for Optimizing Steam Productions at the Geysers, California (PIER);
3. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (William Bourcier) - Pilot-Scale Geothermal Silica Recovery at Mammoth Lakes (PIER);
4. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - Structure of Salton Sea Geothermal Field from Passive Seismic Measurements (PIER);
5. Brookhaven National Laboratory - Demonstration of Engineering-Based Cement Evaluation Method for Geothermal Wells (PIER);
6. Imageair - Geothermal Exploration in Eastern California Using ASTER TIR Data (PIER);
7. Northern California Power Agency - Reinjection Well Down Hole Power Generation at the Geysers (PIER);
8. Layman Energy Associates, Inc. - Drilling and Testing of an Exploratory Well, Truckhaven Geothermal Area, Imperial County, California (GRDA);
9. Calpine Corporation - Overdrilling Technique for Protection of Shallow Well Casings at the Geysers (GRDA);
10. Lake City Geothermal, LLC - Drilling and Testing a Larger Diameter Geothermal Well at the Lake City Geothermal Field, California (GRDA);
11. City of El Paso de Robles - City of Paso Robles Resource Assessment and Feasible Use Study (GRDA);
12. Calpine Corporation - Mercury Filteration Systems Installation (GRDA);
13. South Lake County Fire Protection District - Geothermal Training Facility (GRDA);
14. Calpine Corporation - Little Geysers Creek Arched Culvert (GRDA);
15. Calpine Corporation - Big Sulphur Creek Fish Ladder (GRDA);
16. Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District- An Enhanced Geysers Air Monitoring Program for Improved Data Acquisition and Information Access (GRDA).

Renewables Energy Research (Contact: Elaine Sison-Lebrilla)

Three projects resulting from the Expanded Wind Regime Turbine Technology and Intermittency Management Demonstration solicitation, released on July 22, 2004 were approved for funding at the December 15th Business Meeting. Each project will demonstrate a low-speed wind turbine technology coupled with an intermittency management capability that relies on commercially available generation/storage technologies.

1. Clipper Windpower, Inc
2. GE Global Research and Development
3. Windtower Composites LLC

These three projects total to $5 million worth of PIER grants. The goal of the these grants is to accelerate development of wind turbine system technologies for economic operation in Class 3 and 4 wind regimes, and address integration issues related to intermittency that are characteristic of current wind technologies. (Contact: Mike Kane 916-654-7119)