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In some instances, energy service companies may be able to supply the resource 

 more efficiently than utilities. But some utilities object to allowing energy service 

 companies to work with "their" customers, and this has been a barrier to undertaking 

 such projects. Bonneville in its competitive bidding process, at the insistence of some 

 of its customers, required energy service companies submitting bids to secure the 

 consent of the local utility to do business in its service territory. Although the Council 

 supports the need for an energy service company to coordinate its activities with the 

 local utility, it sees no reason to restrict what might be healthy competition between a 

 public utility and the private sector for delivery of conservation savings. 



Significant energy savings also are available from building code improvements, 

 but until recently Bonneville has been unwilling to commit to supporting 

 implementation of imprc»ements in state and local codes and has considered reducing 

 its existing support. Energy savings from residential and commercial building codes 

 cost substantially less than savings from utility conservation programs, but enforcing 

 building codes has been difficult. Bonneville has been reluctant to pay for enforcing 

 building codes, but there are some indications that the agency now recognizes the 

 potential cost savings from codes and may be willing to act to secure those savings. 



Acquisition policy recommendations 



There will always be differences between the way conservation is acquired and 

 the way generating resources are acquired. For example, because conservation 

 generally cannot be directly metered, usually there will be a requirement for some 

 degree of oversight. In general, however, the Council believes it would be preferable 

 to move the conservation acquisition process closer to that of generating resources. 

 The result, we believe, would be a more business-like and lower-cost acquisition of 

 conservation. To accomplish this, the following elements should be given careful 

 consideration by Bonneville and its customers: 



• Mechanisms for providing utilities incentives for cost-efficient 

 performance (and possibly disincentives for cost-inefficient performance); 



• Stteamlining Boimeville's oversight; 



• Developing utility and Bonneville collaborations to support projects to 

 transform the market for energy efficiency ~ for example, working with 

 chains and franchises and manufacturers of equipment; 



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