June 16-18, 2008
Sheraton Denver Hotel (formerly Adam's Mark Hotel), Denver, Colorado
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Conference Schedule
Below is the list of conference tracks and a day-by-day schedule for the 2008 National Energy and Utility Affordability Conference. The symbol § is used to indicate general sessions or workshops for which Continuing Legal Education credit was offered.
Track A – Energy Availability and Sustainability
Track B – Weatherization and Conservation
Track C – Focus on Energy Assistance
Track D – Outreach and Advocacy
Track E – Vulnerable Populations
Track F – Energy Programs in Indian Country
Track G – Evolution of Utility Programs/Services
Track H – Consumer Education and Services
Track I – Off-Site Tours
(Click on a highlighted name or item noted in parentheses to access an Adobe Acrobat copy of a speaker or presenter's presentation or handouts.)
Monday, June 16, 2008
8:00-9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00-10:30 a.m. Welcome, Introductions and Opening Address
Speakers: Cindy Datig, Chair, National Low Income Energy Consortium
Greg Sawyers, Chairperson, National Fuel Funds Network
The Honorable John Hickenlooper, Mayor, City of Denver
Ray Gogel, Chief Administrative Officer and Vice President of Customer and Enterprise Solutions, Xcel Energy
10:30-11:00 a.m. Break & Informational Displays
11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Session 1
A Health and Economic Consequences of Global Warming on Low-Income Communities: Weather Changes and Impacts
Moderator: Maria Ellingson, Alliance to Save Energy
Presenters: Robert S. Webb, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Olga Wilhelmi, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Summary: Many of the nation’s low-lying areas are populated by low-income people (e.g., New Orleans) and will suffer more as higher intensity and more frequent mega-storms occur. Rural, low-income communities relying on small farming operations will see more long-term drought conditions, while experiencing fewer, but more intense rain storms. Urban centers are also experiencing extreme weather conditions. This session will give the audience a clear picture of today’s climate change issues and the likely impacts on low income populations.
B “Inside the Beltway” Perspective -- Weatherization Assistance Program
Moderator: Robert C. Adams, National Association for State Community Services Programs
Presenter: Michael Peterson, U.S. Department of Energy
Summary: This workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to join federal program management staff and other stakeholders in an open discussion of the program’s future. Participants are encouraged to discuss issues like: Weatherization Plus, state and local WAP operations, future of DOE funding, health and safety initiatives, new technologies, and leveraging potential with utilities and other funding.
C Innovative Funding: Rounding Out Your Resource Portfolio
Moderator: Jennifer Gremmert, Energy Outreach Colorado
Presenters: Tom Richards, Omaha Public Power District
Patricia J. Wrice, Operation Fuel
Summary: How well rounded is your portfolio of funding streams for energy assistance, energy efficiency and weatherization services for families in need? Are you heavily weighted in one funding source, or are traditional funding streams diminishing? In this session, you will hear examples of new funding sources that provide balanced and sustainable funding steams to your programs.
D LIHEAP Advocacy Training
Moderator: Jamie Stringfellow, Entergy Arkansas, Inc.
Presenters: Renny Fagan, Office of U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar
Vivian Lausevic, American Gas Association
Tracy Parker, Edison Electric Institute
Ann Pride, Entergy Corporation (AR fact sheet, LA fact sheet, MS fact sheet, TX fact sheet)
Summary: This workshop will focus on the legislative landscape for energy assistance on Capitol Hill, NFFN’s Washington Action Day for LIHEAP and advice on how individuals can effectively make the case for increased energy assistance funding. It will also examine the difference between advocacy and lobbying.
E Keeping Households Healthy Through Outreach and Financial Coaching
Moderator: Scott Barnette, Colorado Department of Human Services
Presenter: Nathaniel Murrell, DC REACH, United Planning Organization
Lynn Page Snyder, DC REACH, Energy Programs Consortium
Summary: The District of Columbia’s REACH demonstration project takes a holistic approach to helping medically fragile residents apply for LIHEAP and related programs. Outreach team members address both the direct threat to health and safety posed by a household’s high-energy burden and the indirect threat that high home energy bills pose to a household's financial health. This session will examine DC REACH’s strategies for locating medically fragile, income-eligible residents and share its experiences in using financial coaching strategies to boost the positive impact of LIHEAP on the financial health of client households.
F Tribal Sovereignty and Energy Efficiency (session cancelled)
G Utilities and Moratoria for Low-Income Customers §
Moderator: Janis Foreman, Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Presenters: Carol Biedrzycki, Texas Ratepayers' Organization to Save Energy (Texas ROSE)
Olivia Wein, National Consumer Law Center
Summary: Most states have rules to protect utility consumers against shutoffs during extreme temperatures. However, the range of consumers protected, the duration of the protections and the conditions accompanying the protections vary greatly. This workshop will provide an overview of how different states address the vital issue of ensuring the continuity of utility service when the loss of heat or cooling can be health or life threatening.
H Energy Education: Delivering Measurable Results
Moderator: Peggie Neville, New York State Energy and Research Development Authority
Presenters: Jodi Underwood, Citizens Gas & Coke Services
Sunny Dent, National Energy Foundation
Summary: The National Energy Foundation is devoted to the implementation of a variety of innovative teacher training and student programs. More than two decades of expertise in carrying out effective educational partnerships has been supported by the education community, businesses, government agencies and associations. This workshop will focus on a program that is bringing quality education while providing quantitative results.
12:30-1:45 p.m. Luncheon and Keynote Address
Speaker: Senator Gary Hart, Wirth Chair, University of Colorado, and former United States Senator (news story on speech)
Topic: United States Energy Policy and its Implications for Vulnerable Populations
2:00-3:15 p.m. Session 2
A Presidential Climate Action Plan §
Moderator: Diane Carman, University of Colorado Denver
Presenter: Morgan Pitts, Presidential Climate Action Project, University of Colorado at Denver
Summary: A diverse team of climate and policy experts is asking the next president to lead a massive and urgent effort to reverse global warming by steering the country away from a carbon-fueled economy. The Presidential Climate Action Project issued more than 170 recommendations for the next president to undertake in his or her first 100 days. Hear about the plan and how low-income consumers are being considered in this important document.
B Water Conservation - What Can Be Done to Lower Bills and Maximize Assistance
Moderator: Valeria Bullock, PECO -- An Exelon Company
Presenters: Kimberly Joyce, Aqua America, Inc.
David Hepinstall, Association for Energy Affordability
Summary: Like energy, water is a necessary, but not always affordable, resource for low-income customers. Kimberly Joyce and David Hepinstall discuss program designs and services that help low income customers manage water costs and usage.
C Fuel Fund Logistics: Ask the Experts
Moderator: Jamie Stringfellow, Entergy Arkansas, Inc.
Presenters: Joe Guarinello, HeartShare Human Services of New York
Jim Jacob, New Jersey SHARES
ZeeRamell Pace, THAW Fund
Summary: This interactive session will include a panel of experts answering questions about call centers, fundraising, tax issues and other fundamental information for people who just want to get some help.
D Partnerships in Advocacy: When the Sky is Falling
Moderator: Julie Arnestad, Tacoma Public Utilities
Presenter: KJ Collamer, Allegheny Power
Summary: The Allegheny Power CARES program recognizes that hardships such as loss of income due to injury, illness, loss of employment and/or benefits, or death of the primary provider can result in payment problems. Through CARES (Customer Assistance Referral & Evaluation Service) customers experiencing a temporary hardship can be helped with referrals; assisted in accessing housing, food programs, employment and community-based services specific to the customer’s needs, when they are willing and deemed able. There are no income guidelines to be eligible for CARES.
E How Many Lawyers Does It Take to Advocate? As Many as Possible: The Role of Legal Services
in Helping Low-Income Energy Consumers §
Moderator: Charlie Harak, National Consumer Law Center
Presenters: Carol Biedrzycki, Texas Ratepayers' Organization to Save Energy (Texas ROSE)
Lee Aronson, Legal Services of North Louisiana
Summary: Legal services programs around the country are invaluable resources in the effort to ensure energy security and affordability for low-income consumers, providing legal representation to individual clients facing shutoff and other energy crises and engaging in policy advocacy before state legislators and utility regulators. In this session, you will hear from two lawyers, one of whom will describe day-to-day representation efforts, the other describing big picture policy advocacy work that legal services performs.
F Current Renewable Technologies in Tribal Communities
Moderator: Clint LeBeau, Council of Energy Resource Tribes
Presenters: Patrick Spears, Intertribal Council on Utility Policy
Robert Gough, Intertribal Council on Utility PolicySummary: The Intertribal Council on Utility Policy (ICOUP) has formed a plan that encourages tribally owned development of wind generation on Indian reservations as a viable strategy for building sustainable homeland tribal economies. This is happening in an energy and economic environment that presents many challenges to renewable projects, and especially those coming from Indian reservation communities which are home to some of America's richest renewable resources and poorest Native communities. ICOUP is also working with tribes on straw bale housing, which is far more energy efficient than standard housing being built today.
G Lending a Helping Hand: How Colorado Municipal Utilities Provide Energy Assistance to
Their Customers
Moderator: Dave Lock, Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities
Presenters: Denise Sulski, Colorado Springs Utilities
Patrick Miles, Fountain Utilities
James Faber, Pikes Peak Community Action Agency
Edwina Salazar, OUR Center, Longmont, CO
Summary: At municipal utilities, the customers are the owners. Find out how different sized municipal utilities provide assistance to their low-income customer-owners.
H Hot Topics
Presenters: Barbara Alexander, consumer affairs consultant
Bob Patton, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Summary: Join a table of your colleagues and presenter(s) for four 20-minute sessions of discussion or hands-on demonstration, and then move on to another table.
I Tour of National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO
Summary: On this afternoon tour, you will have an opportunity to learn about NREL’s research and development of renewable fuels and electricity that advance national energy goals to change the way we power our homes, businesses and cars.
3:15-3:45 p.m. Break & Informational Displays
3:45-5:00 p.m. Session 3
A Meeting Future Energy Demands - The Forecast for Energy Supply and Price Implications
for Consumers §
Moderator: Edward Gingold, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Presenters: Robert Patton, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Marc Smith, Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States
Paul Wilkinson, American Gas Association
Summary: The availability and affordability of energy, particularly for low-income consumers, are likely to be increasingly critical issues in the years to come. In this workshop, industry presenters will examine predictions for future energy demand in this country and consider the forecast for energy supply in the short, medium and long terms. Presenters will also consider some of the price implications for consumers.
B Mythbusters: What Works, What Saves?
Moderator: Nikki Kuhn, Governor's Energy Office, State of Colorado
Presenter: Michael Blasnik, M. Blasnik and Associates
Summary: This workshop will provide an enlightening discussion of the myths and realities of energy savings in low-income housing. What energy savings can be expected from cold- and hot-climate energy conservation measures? The session will cover measured versus predicted savings for various energy conservation measures that have proven to save energy when installed correctly.
C Program Eligibility Issues: Citizenship, Legal Status, Documentation and Verification §
Moderator: John Harvanko, Minnesota Department of Commerce
Presenters: Scott Barnette, Colorado Department of Human Services
Herb Betts, Colorado Department of Human Services
Nick St. Angelo, Office of Community Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Summary: Energy assistance administrators face increasingly tough choices when it comes to setting program eligibility guidelines. Thorny issues such as an applicant’s citizenship, immigration status and documentation further complicate the process. Two state speakers will discuss how they handle LIHEAP applicants -- one will discuss how stricter identification requirements impacted the LIHEAP program; another will describe energy assistance documentation requirements -- and a federal LIHEAP representative will present the latest guidance on the issue as it relates to the federal LIHEAP program.
D Holistic Energy Assistance Services
Moderator: John Rowe, Utility Emergency Services Fund
Presenters: Lois Grant, United Way of Long Island
John Rich, Mid-America Assistance Coalition
Summary: Organizations are looking to assist low-income clients with much more than just utility payment assistance. These organizations work in the world of referrals and multi-service assistance to ease the burden. The workshop will look at what these organizations are doing to provide a wide range of services and a "holistic" approach to meeting low-income clients' needs.
E Facing Our Energy Future: A World View
Moderator: Alita Corbett, Pepco
Presenters: Ross Armstrong, eaga, United Kingdom
Bruce Pearce, Green Communities Canada
Dana Silk, EnviroCentre, Canada
Sandy Yuen, Ontario Power Authority
Summary: Effective and wise energy use can and should be extended to low-income customers. Get up to speed with what works in other parts of the world. At this session, you will discover the latest trends and technologies our North American neighbor, Canada, has identified for helping low-income customers lower their energy bills.
F Emerging Renewable Technologies in Tribal Communities
Moderator: Richard Fox, Trees, Water & People
Presenters: Henry Red Cloud, Lakota Solar Enterprises
Deborah K. Tewa, Arizona Department of Commerce
Summary: Trees, Water & People’s Tribal Lands Renewable Energy program puts the power of nature – the warmth of the sun, the power of the wind, the shelter of trees – to work for Native Americans. Partnering with Lakota Solar Enterprises, a Native-owned company located on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, TWP has planted over 1,000 windbreak and shade trees and built and installed over 200 supplemental solar heating systems for families in reservation communities. These solutions are sustainable, economically beneficial, environmentally friendly, and celebrate the Native Americans’ respect for Mother Earth. TWP also has joined the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Clean Energy Education Partnership (CEEP), a pilot project to demonstrate the potential of renewable energy applications.
G Low Income Water Affordability: A Look at Affordability Programs
Moderator: Jim Jacob, New Jersey SHARES
Presenters: Jim Jacob, New Jersey SHARES
Chad Quinn, Dollar Energy Fund
Summary: Many of us take for granted that when we turn on the tap, safe and affordable drinking water will be around forever. There are emerging trends that are driving up the cost of water such as the scarcity of water in some regions of the country, the cost to treat water to bring it to federal standards, aging water infrastructure and limited federal funds to pay for repair and replacement. In this session, you will hear what is being done to help low-income households afford essential water services.
H Hot Topics
Summary: Join a table of your colleagues and presenter(s) for four 20-minute sessions of discussion or hands-on demonstration, and then move on to another table.
I Tour of National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO (continued)
Summary: On this afternoon tour, you will have an opportunity to learn about NREL’s research and development of renewable fuels and electricity that advance national energy goals to change the way we power our homes, businesses and cars.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
8:00-9:00 a.m. National Fuel Funds Network Annual Membership Meeting
8:00-9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00-10:30 a.m. Plenary Session
Topic: Energy Policy and Its Impact on Consumer Prices
Moderator: Patricia Limerick, Ph.D., University of Colorado-Boulder
Speaker: Janee Briesemeister, AARP
Alan Nogee, Union of Concerned Scientists
John Harpole, Mercator Energy
Summary: Public policy is increasingly having an impact on the price of electricity, natural gas and other heating fuels. Issues concerning domestic fuel production and environmental initiatives can and do effect home energy prices for all consumers. This plenary session will explore public policy issues from the perspective of the fossil fuels industry, environmental community and regulatory low-income advocates.
10:30-11:00 a.m. Break & Informational Displays
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. The Salvation Army Special Session
11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Session 4
A Linking Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency to Assist Low-Income Consumers:
Opportunities and Barriers
Moderator: Jennifer Gremmert, Energy Outreach Colorado
Presenter: Ravi Malhotra, International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology (iCAST)
David Alspector, graduate student, University of Colorado at Boulder
Summary: Global warming is causing an increase on the focus of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency to assist in reducing carbon emissions. Reducing energy usage also has the added benefit of reducing energy costs. How can low-income advocates and environmental advocates work more closely to achieve our common goals?
B Building Owners, Utility Companies, Not-for-Profits: Partners in Weatherization and
Energy Conservation
Moderator: Marsha Belcher, CEDA, Chicago
Presenters: John Hamilton, CEDA, Chicago
René Gonzales, Commonwealth Edison
Summary: This workshop will describe a newly launched program funded by Commonwealth Edison and administered by CEDA in Cook County, Illinois. It will explore the program guidelines and the roles of all stakeholders. Participants will learn how to obtain landlord buy-in and what role the renters play. Learn how to leverage components of existing LIHEAP and Weatherization programs.
C Energy Payment Assistance Programs: Design and Evaluation of Different Models
Moderator: Sadie John Kroeck, Dominion
Presenter: David Carroll, APPRISE, Inc.
Summary: Bill payment assistance programs using several different approaches have been implemented around the country to help low-income customers with unaffordable energy bills. In Pennsylvania, individual utility companies design and implement their own Customer Assistance Programs (CAPs). In New Jersey, the Board of Public Utilities has implemented a statewide Universal Service Fund Program (USF). APPRISE has conducted evaluations of four Pennsylvania utilities’ CAPs and the New Jersey USF Program. This presentation will describe how the approaches differ and discuss what the evaluation research reveals about the program design choices.
D Meet the Feds: Interact With Federal LIHEAP Officials §
Moderator: Jo-Ann Choate, Maine State Housing Authority
Presenters: Josephine B. Robinson, Office of Community Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Nick St. Angelo, Office of Community Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Summary: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Energy Assistance, distributes and oversees more than $2 billion a year in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding to states and tribes. Representatives of this office will discuss the status of LIHEAP and answer your questions about the program.
E How to Speak the New Language of Energy Efficiency – How to Talk with Policymakers
About Energy Efficiency §
Moderator: Jacqueline Holmes, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Presenters: Jerrold Oppenheim, Democracy And Regulation
Theo MacGregor, MacGregor Energy Consultancy
Summary: The benefits of low-income energy efficiency to utilities and society, as well as to low-income consumers, far outweigh the costs – affordable service, fewer unpaid bills, less pollution. This workshop will provide advocates, utilities and policymakers with the tools they need to understand those benefits and to communicate them to regulators and other policymakers in language that makes sense to them. It will give concrete examples of collaboration among advocates and utilities in states across the country where utility-funded energy efficiency programs have successfully “piggybacked” onto the DOE weatherization and efficiency program (DOE WAP). The workshop leaders, who have worked in this field for a combined fifty-plus years, will present case studies of successful collaboration and will answer attendees’ questions about how to begin the process in their own states.
F Fire and Fall Protection: First Nations Remembering WhenTM – A Tribal Case Study
Moderator: Sharon Gamache, National Fire Protection Association
Presenter: Capt. Dicky Bain, Navajo Nation Fire and Rescue
Mary Robertson-Begay, National Fire Protection Association
Pedro Flores, National Fire Protection Association
Summary: Those at highest risk of fire in Native and non-Native areas alike are the very young and the elderly. The National Fire Protection Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the original Remembering When program. Along with the Department of Homeland Security and the Office for Domestic Preparedness, they created the First Nations Remembering WhenTM program. Elders from the Navajo Nation, Hopi Nation, and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa were instrumental in the development of the program.
G If All You’ve Got is a Hammer, Every Problem Looks Like a Nail: Why Utilities Should
Segment Their Customers §
Moderator: Ron Elwood, Legal Services Advocacy Project
Presenters: Ron Grosse, Secretary, National Low Income Energy Consortium
Russ Shaber, Colorado Governor’s Energy Office
Summary: Habit and administrative ease often leads to the identical treatment of customers in different situations. This is true both in the collections and conservation arenas. This workshop will challenge old thinking and suggest that customers and companies are better served if companies segment their customers and better tailor programs and practices to meet the unique needs of each segment.
H Project Stay Connected: How to Keep Low-Income Clients Connected to Utility Service §
Moderator: Edward Gingold, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Presenter: Charlie Harak, National Consumer Law Center
Summary: Every state has rules governing when and how utility terminations can occur, and most states have rules regarding payment plans and limitations on terminations. These may include protections for seriously ill customers or for the elderly, or during the winter or periods of extreme heat. This workshop will examine how those rules operate.
12:30-1:45 p.m. Luncheon
Speaker: Kateri Callahan, President, Alliance to Save Energy
Summary: Many Americans, particularly at lower income levels, are hard hit by high gasoline prices. Increasing demand for oil results in higher gasoline and heating oil prices, greater air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced energy security. Since the transportation sector is responsible for 70 percent of U.S. oil use and one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, it is imperative that consumers take simple yet important steps to be more fuel efficient. The National Fuel Funds Network and National Low Income Energy Consortium are partnering with the Alliance to Save Energy in the Drive $marter Challenge, a campaign intended to show middle- and low-income drivers how to reduce gasoline consumption and save money. At this luncheon, ASE President Kateri Callahan will discuss the new campaign. By building awareness of easy yet important individual actions that can improve vehicle fuel efficiency, she said the Drive $marter Challenge will provide benefits to individual consumers through lowered gasoline bills and benefit society through less air pollution, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved national energy security.
2:00-3:15 p.m. Session 5
A How Do You Make Renewable Energy Accessible to Low-Income Consumers?
Moderator: Tim Ollhoff, Rural Renewable Energy Alliance
Presenters: Jason Edens, Rural Renewable Energy Alliance
Frances Thompson, Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Summary: This session will examine regulations (renewable portfolio standards, for example) and new opportunities for targeting renewable energy to low-income families, focusing on collaborations with non-profit organizations, weatherization programs and examining applications of renewable technology that are already benefiting customers.
B Fundamentals of the Home Energy Audit
Moderator: Mary Grassi, PPL Electric Utilities
Presenter: Caleb Crow, Performance Systems Development
Summary: Did you ever wonder what data needs to be collected to perform an energy audit? This workshop will explore how one computerized energy simulation tool calculates heat loss/gain and system efficiencies to provide energy professionals and homeowners with the data needed to make smart choices about how to cost effectively reduce energy use.
C California’s Low-Income Energy Needs Assessment
Moderator: Kelly Hymes, California Public Utility Commission
Presenters: Kelly Hymes, California Public Utility Commission
Kathleen Gafney, KEMA, Inc.
Summary: After an intensive four-year year process, the California Public Utilities Commission in September 2007 released the final report of its wide-ranging, two-phase Low Income Energy Needs Assessment, possibly the most comprehensive low-income energy needs assessment ever undertaken. Conducted by KEMA, Inc., the second phase of the study used in-depth interviews, energy audits, census data, utility billing records and on-site surveys to develop a profile of the demographic, socio-economic, dwelling-type and geographic characteristics of the eligible low- income population in California. The report also provides an analysis of and recommendations regarding the effectiveness and the future of the rate-payer funded low-income discount and energy efficiency programs that served nearly 4 million low-income Californians last year. A commission representative and a KEMA researcher will discuss what led the commission to conduct the needs assessment and what the future holds for California’s low- income population and their energy needs.
D Let Your Fingers Do the Talking: Writing Effective News Releases
Moderator: Ivan Brandon, National Fuel Funds Network
Presenters: Ivan Brandon, National Fuel Funds Network
David Fox, National Low Income Energy Consortium
Summary: Too often, agencies generate news releases that provide basic information about energy assistance programs but fail to “sell” the programs both to those who need help and those whose support for the program could be valuable. In this interactive 2 1/2-hour workshop reprising a highly successful session presented last year in Nashville, participants will learn from two former Associated Press writers and editors about news writing and what goes into an effective release. Then, participants will actually write leads and full news releases in a classroom environment and critique each other’s efforts.
E Helping People Move Out of Poverty: The Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit §
Moderator: Linda Barnes, Entergy
Presenters: Bernita Hadley, The Piton Foundation
John Wancheck, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Summary: The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit helps move working families out of poverty by reducing the tax burden on workers and supplementing wages through a refundable tax credit. Learn more from the experts about how your clients can benefit from the EITC and Child Tax Credit.
F Meet the Feds: LIHEAP from a Tribal Viewpoint
Moderator: Charlotte Abney, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Presenters: Charlotte Abney, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Josephine B. Robinson, Office of Community Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Nick St. Angelo, Office of Community Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Summary: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Energy Assistance, distributes and oversees more than $2 billion a year in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding to states and tribes. The director of this office and her staff will discuss the status of LIHEAP and answer your questions about the program from a tribal perspective.
G A Discussion About Deliverable Fuels in Challenging Times
Moderator: Mark Wolfe, National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association
Presenters: James M. Collura, New England Fuel Institute
Shane Sweet, New England Fuel Institute
Richard Roldan, National Propane Gas Association
Peggie Neville, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Summary: These are challenging times for low-income bulk fuel consumers, the deliverable fuels companies and the agencies that run the energy affordability programs. The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance dollars’ reach is diminished as bulk fuel costs rise. This session will explore the challenges to serving low-income bulk fuel consumers and what is being done to meet these challenges.
H Walk a Mile
Moderator: Pamela Carter, New York State Department of Public Service
Presenters: Christopher Coll, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Natasha Grossman, Northwest Institute for Children and Families, University of Washington School of Social Work
Summary: Imagine a program where your clients have the opportunity to directly impact the policies that affect their lives. Walk a Mile is a national educational program that pairs policymakers with low-income constituents. Based on the idea that we can sometimes accomplish more over a kitchen table than across a podium, Walk a Mile provides an up close and personal experience for both participating legislators and low-income constituents. The program’s developer will explain how Walk a Mile is effecting change around the country and discuss the success of this powerful program in the state of New York.
I Tour of National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO
Summary: On this afternoon tour, you will have an opportunity to learn about NREL’s research and development of renewable fuels and electricity that advance national energy goals to change the way we power our homes, businesses and cars.
3:15-3:45 p.m. Break & Informational Displays
3:45-5:00 p.m. Session 6
A Renewable Communities: The Greensburg, Kansas Case Study
Moderator: Pam Packer, Energy Outreach Colorado
Presenter: Lynn Billman, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (supplemental presentation)
Summary: The town of Greensburg, Kansas, is being rebuilt as a “green” community in the wake of a devastating tornado. Consider what communities of the future will look like, thinking of community needs from a holistic standpoint including where energy will come from, how buildings and homes will be impacted and how transportation needs will be met.
B Impacts of a Customer Education Program Model
Moderator: Eric Stern, Governor's Energy Office, State of Colorado
Presenters: Jacqueline Berger, Ph.D., APPRISE, Inc.
Michael Blasnik, M. Blasnik and Associates
Summary: The State of Colorado’s “First Response” program provides low cost energy savings kits (with light bulbs, showerheads and other items) to low income households using three different delivery approaches -- direct mail, local agency workshops, and direct installation by youth corps. This session will examine what was learned during an independent evaluation of the three program designs, including measured energy impacts.
C A Shopping Cart Full of Aid: One Stop Assistance Services
Moderator: Roger Rees, Oregon HEAT
Presenters: Chad Quinn, Dollar Energy Fund
Sean Smiles, Dollar Energy Fund
Summary: Learn how a successful organization has developed a model for a program that helps connect low-income families to various types of assistance programs. The presentation will demonstrate the concept of using a non-profit agency as a “one-stop shop” for intake, evaluation and referral into programs relating to utility assistance as well as other private- and government-funded social service programs. Special attention will be paid to information collection, evaluation, referral and case management services. The presenters will focus on the profile of a typical low-income utility customer and their family. The expected outcome of the workshop will be for attendees to learn what a model for a one-stop shop should include and to provide a demonstration of a system that a successful non-profit uses to administer programs.
D Let Your Fingers Do the Talking: Writing Effective News Releases (continued)
Moderator: Ivan Brandon, National Fuel Funds Network
Presenters: Ivan Brandon, National Fuel Funds Network
David Fox, National Low Income Energy Consortium
Summary: Too often, agencies generate news releases that provide basic information about energy assistance programs but fail to “sell” the programs both to those who need help and those whose support for the program could be valuable. In this interactive 2 1/2-hour workshop reprising a highly successful session presented last year in Nashville, participants will learn from two former Associated Press writers and editors about news writing and what goes into an effective release. Then, participants will actually write leads and full news releases in a classroom environment and critique each other’s efforts.
E The Federal Lifeline Telephone Program: Keeping America Connected
Moderator: Chris Baker, AARP Public Policy Institute
Presenters: Pamela Gallant, Universal Service Administrative Company
Karen Buller, National Indian Telecommunications Institute
Summary: The federal Lifeline program helps make telephone service affordable to low-income households by providing discounts to eligible consumers. In many states, individuals who are eligible for LIHEAP are also eligible for Lifeline discounts. Eligible residents of tribal lands can receive additional Lifeline discounts that generally bring the cost of telephone service down to $1.00 each month. One of the best parts about Lifeline is that funding is not capped at a particular funding level or subject to appropriation approval; the discount is available to every qualifying American household. Learn how this federal program works and how to leverage efforts to enroll LIHEAP-eligible consumers to also enroll them in Lifeline.
F Tribal LIHEAP: Federal and State Perspectives
Moderator: Jerry Snell, Cherokee Nation
Presenters: Charlotte Abney, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Jim Nolan, Montana State Department of Public Health and Human Services
Summary: The Division of Energy Assistance in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the LIHEAP program, encourages states and tribes to work together in establishing tribal LIHEAP allotments. This workshop will describe the process of establishing tribal allotments, state and tribal agreements, and suggest ways states and tribes can enhance tribal LIHEAP programs.
G You Don’t Have to be Rich to Care About the Environment
Moderator: Skip Arnold, Energy Outreach Colorado
Presenters: Floyd Ciruli, Ciruli Associates
Patty Bigner, Fort Collins Utilities
Pieter Leenhouts, Xcel Energy
Summary: You don’t have to be rich to care about the environment and it makes good sense to use energy in the most efficient manner. What are the perceptions of low-income consumers about renewable energy programs and energy efficiency endeavors? Is income a barrier to participation? How do utilities market renewable energy and efficiency programs to this customer demographic?
H School’s in Session: Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader When it Comes to Energy Literacy?
Moderator: Diane Tatum, Entergy Arkansas, Inc.
Presenters: Peggie Neville, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Phil Miller, Consolidated Edison
Jen Rodriguez, Consolidated Edison
Summary: The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has developed and is implementing an energy education program that is reaching K-12 teachers. Teachers attending workshops are provided with a curriculum and knowledge to teach energy education to our youngest consumers. ConEd’s comprehensive program reaches children through an interactive website. Both programs will provide you with ideas on ways to ensure that children, consumers of today and customers of tomorrow, in your area are “energy literate.”
I Tour of National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO (continued)
Summary: On this afternoon tour, you will have an opportunity to learn about NREL’s research and development of renewable fuels and electricity that advance national energy goals to change the way we power our homes, businesses and cars.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
8:00-8:45 a.m. NFFN New Members' Breakfast (invitation only)
8:00-9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00-10:15 a.m. General Session
Topic: Climate Change Legislation and its Impact on Low-Income Families §
Moderator: Joel Eisenberg, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Speakers: Robert Greenstein, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
Charlie Harak, National Consumer Law Center
Rafe Pomerance, President, Clean Air-Cool Planet
10:15-10:45 a.m. Break & Informational Displays
10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Session 7
A Climate Change Legislation and Its Impact on Low-Income Families (followup to General Session) §
Moderator: Joel Eisenberg, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Presenters: Robert Greenstein, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
Charlie Harak, National Consumer Law Center
Rafe Pomerance, President, Clean Air-Cool Planet
Summary: Oil companies, automobile manufacturers, utilities and environmental organizations all have positions on controlling greenhouse gases. These parties, residential energy consumers and their advocates need also be concerned with the price impact of control on limited-income families. This session will follow up on some of the issues identified in the immediately preceding General Session. It will examine two proposals for controlling emissions that are discussed frequently: “cap and trade” and “carbon tax.” A “cap and trade” proposal can consider whether allowances to pollute under the cap are allocated or auctioned. The session will also present plans for how money generated from either method could be directed to offset the increased costs of home energy for low-income households during this energy transition.
B Selling Conservation: How to Get Buy-In From Consumers
Moderator: Deb Cochenour, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania
Presenter: A. Tamasin Sterner, Pure Energy
Summary: How do we get people on board with the concept of energy efficiency? How do you train or get clients to reduce energy needs so they're not as dependent upon cash assistance? Hear from an experienced conservation educator on how she gets buy-in from consumers. Learn what she hears from consumers and what you need to know to reach out to these audiences.
C Coordinated Responsibilities in Energy Assistance Programs
Moderator: Jerry McKim, Bureau of Energy Assistance, Iowa Department of Human Rights
Presenters: Fenton Hyacinthe, Community Action of Minneapolis
Amy Oehler, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
Summary: LIHEAP and fuel funds aren’t the only players in the energy assistance process. This workshop provides examples from two states that are effectively utilizing the concept that three parties – clients, LIHEAP providers and energy vendors – have shared roles and responsibilities in helping clients to become more energy self-sufficient and assuring that resources are spent most effectively.
D Marketing Availability of Assistance to the General Public
Moderator: Diane Tatum, Entergy Arkansas, Inc.
Presenters: James Wallace, Total Community Action, New Orleans
Sheila Lee, Southern California Edison
Jack Parkhill, Southern California Edison
Summary: This workshop will explore ways for nonprofit organizations and utility companies to provide information about the programs offered to low-income clients. Getting the correct information disseminated to the community level is often difficult. Here are two organizations that have overcome the challenge in providing the right messages to the clients in need.
E The Score on the Poor is not on the Colbert Report: The Pros and Cons of Reporting
by Utilities of Payment History §
Moderator: Jim Jacob, New Jersey SHARES
Presenters: Ron Elwood, Mid-Minnesota Legal Services
Patrick Walker, PERC/Information Policy Institute
Summary: In the current economic climate, credit reporting and credit scoring is more important than ever. Some utilities report payment behavior to credit reporting agencies. Some studies indicate that low-income consumers can benefit from reporting of nontraditional data, such as favorable utility payment history, while advocates express concern that reporting of nonpayment by low-income energy consumers is unfair and can be harmful. This provocative session will present both sides of the story.
F Tribal and Utility Cooperation
Moderator: Clint LeBeau, Council of Energy Resource Tribes
Presenters: Len Mize, SourceGas
Mary Drury, Southern California Edison
Summary: SourceGas, a natural gas utility serving Wyoming, has been developing a connection plan for the Wind River Indian Reservation. Coordination and maintaining open communication between the Wyoming Public Service Commission, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the governor’s tribal liaisons, the Joint Legislative Committee on Tribal Affairs, joint business councils of the tribes and the Fremont County government officials is key to this effort. A representative Southern California Edison will discuss how, in recognizing the political sovereignty of tribes, the utility provides a full range of services to tribes just as it does to cities and counties.
G Decoupling in the Real World – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly §
Moderator: Jerrold Oppenheim, Democracy and Regulation
Presenters: Steve Weiss, NW Energy Coalition
Chuck Eberdt, The Energy Project, Opportunity Council
Summary: Decoupling by utilities means different things to different people – sometimes good, sometimes bad. This workshop will focus on the benefits and drawbacks of decoupling and will try to determine if there is common ground for low-income consumers and utilities in the world of decoupling. A review of one case study will present the adverse impacts of decoupling on low-income customers. Panel members will also discuss things the consumer advocate must consider such as how conservation is measured; how the arrangement impacts rate stability, and whether the utility really needs this incentive. Discussions also will focus on the view that if decoupling is done right, it can result in a favorable rate impact and significant changes in utility behavior that will be an advantage to customers.
H How to Reach the Hard to Reach Communities: Effective Outreach and Communication Tools
Used by Utilities to Reach Multi-language and Senior Communities
Moderator: Barry K. Hedden, BGE – A Constellation Energy Company
Presenters: Kim Campbell, TXU Energy
Louis Gonzalez, Florida Power & Light Company
Della McCurdy, Florida Power & Light Company
Summary: Florida Power & Light and TXU Energy have developed programs to reach low-income customers in need of assistance throughout the hard to reach communities. This workshop will provide information on ways to develop relationships with key community partners and the strategies to administer the customized programs. This workshop will also include information about providing education on energy conservation, ways to manage energy consumption and how to access customer assistance programs.
12:00-1:15 p.m. Luncheon & Awards Presentations
1:30-2:45 p.m. Session 8
A &n