The Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition and Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invite you to the second briefing in a series discussing how adopting the service of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technologies can help relieve constrained energy markets and improve energy security. CHP is a type of distributed generation (DG) providing both heating and electric power simultaneously. This technology accomplishes increased fuel efficiency by harnessing thermal energy produced from traditional electric generation. Existing power plants commonly operate at an efficiency of approximately 30 percent, wasting two-thirds of the fuel's stored energy as waste heat released to the surrounding environment. Utilizing CHP technologies can improve efficiency from 30 percent to 70-80 percent. Also, by locating the technology on-site, the system avoids transmission and distribution losses as well as offers more versatile energy production for a number of different sectors (e.g., industrial, commercial, and residential). CHP is a well-established technology that is cost-effective but surprisingly under-utilized.

As policymakers again this year consider energy legislation designed to meet the challenges of higher prices, tighter markets, congested grids, and the need for enhanced security, it is helpful to recognize the benefits Combined Heat and Power (CHP) can deliver in all of these respects. Greater utilization of CHP technologies in multiple end-use applications can significantly lower costs, ease demand, relieve grid constraints and enhance security. This briefing will quantify CHP’s potential, review what’s at stake, and outline barriers that need to be addressed by policymakers.

Speakers will include:

• Bruce Hedman, Energy and Environmental Analysis, will quantify CHP’s potential and lay out the benefits of accelerated deployment of economically feasible technologies in various energy markets.   Presentation
  
  
• Tim Daniels, New York City Economic Development Corporation, will discuss New York City’s efforts to capture CHP’s benefits and spur economic development as well as meet the city’s energy challenges.   Presentation 
  
  
• John Jimison, Executive Director, U.S. Combined Heat and Power Association, will explain the barriers that limit CHP’s penetration of markets and discuss the policy changes that need to be made in energy legislation to accelerate deployment.   Presentation
  

The briefing is open to the public and no reservations are required. Please feel free to forward this notice.  For more information please contact Diane Devaul (ddevaul@nemw.org) or Theresa Murzyn (tmurzyn@eesi.org), (202) 662-1884.