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SPEER Industry & Policy Workshop: See You in Two Weeks!

It's almost here! This year's SPEER Industry + Policy Workshop will be held in Austin at the Archer Hotel on September 19-20th.  Join us in the Lone Star state for insightful discussions and presentations from energy experts and leaders focused on the most pressing energy matters in our region. Don’t miss this opportunity to join industry leaders and allies. Aside from networking and meeting new faces, as well as catching up with old ones at the happy hour, reception sessions will include:

• Funding Secured: Next Steps for Utilities and Local Government Agencies Post-IIJA and IRA Grants
• Energy Capital Podcast with Doug Lewin and Chairman Gleeson: Discussing the Grid, Reliability, Affordability, & Demand Side Solutions 
• Status of the State Energy Conservation Office and IRA Funding
• Navigating DERs, VPP Expansion, and Policy Implementation
• Shifting Demand: The Power of Energy Efficient Policies & Residential Demand Response

Check out the entire Workshop agenda here. Let’s create change and expand efficiency together. 

Haven't registered yet? It's not too late! Head here for conference info and register today. The SPEER team looks forward to seeing you in just a few weeks!

Upcoming Events

Texas Energy Summit

Mark your calendar: November 19-21 is the 21st Texas Energy Summit, hosted by the Energy Systems Laboratory, a division of Texas A&M University.

This important and timely event focuses on the intersection of air quality and energy systems: the grid, transportation, oil/gas, and industrial. Summit sessions are intended to lead to actionable steps to improve our air quality in Texas.

Sponsorship opportunities are available! For more info, head here.

GridNEXT 2024: Meeting the Demand

Join us at CleanTX DFW Chapter’s third annual one-day seminar GridNEXT - Meeting The Demand, hosted at the University of Texas at Arlington to highlight thought leadership coming from the north Texas region. 

Session topics include:

• Unveiling the Hottest Trends in Cleantech and Renewable Energy with Peter Kelly-Detwiler
• Powering Tomorrow: An Overview of Utility-Scale Renewable Project Development
• Guarding the Grid: BESS Practices in Safety 
• Keynote Lunch: Woody Rickerson, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, ERCOT
• Meeting the Demand: How Texas Energy Developers Will Rise to the Challenge
• Decentralized Power: The Rise of Microgrids and Distributed Energy in Texas
• A Look Ahead: Direction of Texas Electric Regulatory and Electric Policy

Register here.

North Texas Facilities Expo: October 29-30

The Facilities Expo provides free learning and networking opportunities, bringing together facility engineers, energy managers, maintenance mangers, green building communities and more for two days of energy and sustainability sessions and exhibits.

Join SPEER’s Energy Code Manager as he presents on 2021 IECC Update: Key Changes in Commercial HVAC, Lighting, and Building Codes.

Wednesday, October 30, 2024, 9:50 AM - 10:50 AM

Speaker: Randy Plumlee - Energy Code Program Manager, SPEER

This valuable presentation will describe the significant changes introduced in the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) for commercial buildings. The session will cover essential updates in HVAC systems, lighting requirements, and overall building codes to enhance energy efficiency. Gain insights on how these changes impact design, implementation, and compliance. Equip yourself with the knowledge to navigate the new standards effectively in your upcoming projects.

New Blog: "Resiliency is the Name of the Power Outage Game"

On August 20th, 2024 Texas set a new all-time peak demand record of 85,931 MW, due in large part to extremely high temperatures and buildings with systems that are not equipped to handle these long durations of high heat and extreme weather. While the grid operated as expected, there continues to be trepidation whenever extreme temperatures hit the state about whether Texans will still have power. 

Couple this high heat with hurricane season and other catastrophic weather events, increased high energy industries like data-mining and crypto centers, and the ongoing flow of new Texans entering the state every day, and we can see why there is a clear demand issue in ERCOT. We must address demand-side resources to help with the influx of energy consumption throughout the region. Building resiliency would be a huge step for Texas. SPEER Managing Director, Liz John, wrote about the need for increased weatherization, adopting stronger building codes, and deployment of distributed energy resources and their positive impacts to consumer costs in a recent SPEER blog post: Resiliency is the Name of the Power Outage Game.

Noteworthy

U.S. Energy and Employment Report Released

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the 2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), a comprehensive study designed to track and understand employment trends across the energy sector. The 2024 USEER shows that:

• The energy workforce overall added over 250,000 jobs in 2023; 56% of those were in clean energy. 
• In 2023, jobs in clean energy grew by 4.2%, more than 2x the job growth rate of 2.0% in the overall economy.
• Jobs in clean energy grew in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with Texas experiencing the second fastest rate of clean energy job growth, increasing by 6%.

Dive deeper here.

Free Online Demand Flexibility Learning With AESP & DOE

AESP is helping you elevate your expertise with FLEX's premium online courses! Dive into the world of demand flexibility, connected water heaters, lighting, HVAC systems, and distributed energy resources like solar and EVSE. Thanks to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), this is cost-free, convenient, and designed for tomorrow's energy efficiency leaders. Learn more.

Need to Catch Up?

Missed last week’s policy newsletter? Browse past issues of our newsletters and subscribe to other distribution lists here. 

What We're Reading

US households claim $8.4B in efficiency, clean energy tax credits for 2023: Treasury - Utility Dive



It’s time to stop fretting about load growth and get serious about demand-side solutions - Utility Dive

ERCOT successfully navigates heat wave, new peak demand record - Utility Dive

Heat Season Power Outages - Climate Central

As Texas’ energy demands increase, the future may lie in paying Texans to use less - Chron