In response to President Obama’s 2012 Executive Order Accelerating Investment in Industrial Energy Efficiency which calls for 40 GW of new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) capacity over the next decade, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is holding a series of regional meetings to discuss Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) and CHP opportunities. The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regional Dialogue Meeting, co- sponsored by Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) and the State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network (SEE Action), was held in Baltimore, Maryland and brought together policymakers, utilities, industrial customers, vendors and other stakeholders. The Dialogue meeting focused on fostering a regional discussion of state best practice policies and investment models to overcome the numerous barriers to industrial energy efficiency and CHP investments. The meeting focused on industrial energy efficiency and CHP successes, opportunities, and new approaches—all with an eye toward state and regional policy, including the role of ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs. This report captures the key points of the dialogue.
The Northeast / Mid-Atlantic Region Has Significant CHP Potential: The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states already have 16 gigawatts (GW) of installed CHP capacity, which is about 20 percent of the total U.S. installed capacity (See Appendix E). This figure includes 11 states and Washington, D.C. New York has the highest installed capacity of the group at 5.6 GW. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts each have more than 1.5 GW of CHP installed. Recent state-level studies identified significant additional potential for CHP systems. However, because the methods used by states to quantify the technical and economic potential for CHP systems vary, the state data is generally not comparable across states. Despite this uncertainty, the studies agree that a large potential for additional CHP in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic remains, and that this region could play a leading role in realizing the 40 GW goal.