Catch up on all the good information shared during our September 2023 installment of our What Matters Webinar Series, led by our Water Energy Efficiency Task Force chairs Scott Houston and Kris Murray. Watch the webinar video on demand, read the Q&A and chat transcripts, and view the powerpoint slide decks shared by our panelists.

What Matters Webinar Series

Innovation Matters: Charting the Path in Energy Advancements at the Water-Energy Nexus

The new webinar is part of SCWC’s “What Matters” webinar series, designed to provide online exchanges of best practices as water and power utilities, nonprofits, businesses and others grapple with changes to the way we live, work and deliver services.

Speakers are:

• Erin Brooks, Director, Customer Energy Solutions, Southern California Gas
• Liz Crosson, Sustainability, Resiliency, and Innovation Officer, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
• Bryan Falconer, Senior Advisor, Southern California Edison
• Tom Fang, Supervising Engineer, Los Angeles County Sanitation District
• Shea Hughes, Director of West Coast Business Development, SCALE Microgrid
• Lauren Seymour, Assistant Director, The Energy Coalition, on behalf of the Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCalREN) Public Agency Programs

• County of San Bernardino
• Inland Empire Utilities Agency
• Irvine Ranch Water District
• Los Angeles County Public Works
• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
• Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
• Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
• Water Replenishment District of Southern California
• West Basin Municipal Water District

The post Learn more about SCWC’s Innovation Matters Webinar appeared first on Southern California Water Coalition.

The Task Force charged into the challenge of teaming water and energy utilities to ease the significant amount of energy that goes into obtaining, treating, and distributing water. In this new white paper and publication, “Rewiring Water Conservation for Energy: How Southern California Utilities Make it Work,” links are made between water and energy utilities to explore the reduction of resource consumption. In addition to detailing how the reduction of water use is related to energy savings, the paper discusses the issues restricting easy collaborative efforts between energy and water utilities.

The publication sheds a light on the four most prominent barriers that case studies have revealed: 

• Legal Matters
• Finding Common Customers
• Getting Word Out
• Program Operations/Management 

By highlighting these barriers, the Task Force uncovers innovative solutions that will provide utility agencies with informed steps towards collaboration. Along with gaining an understanding of the barriers, the authors also identified paths to overcome them and allow for future action. The Task Force’s insights into solutions include:

1. Evaluating endeavors to simplify collaborations between multiple resource programs to provide the most efficient development across state agencies
2. Supporting research efforts to design efficiency programs for resource agencies as well as creating a standard system to determine the amount of energy that goes into water production
3. Promoting the protection of PII data and the creation of a collaborative data sharing platform
4. Developing a simplified, efficient strategy for public-private resource legal contracting

It’s certainly no coincidence that this white paper was released on Earth Day! Plan on setting aside time to read this report that maps out the future of resource conservation.

Download a PDF of “Rewiring Water Conservation for Energy: How Southern California Utilities Make It Work.”

The Southern California Water Coalition extends its deepest gratitude to the following agencies for volunteering to collect, consolidate, and submit the case studies that made this white paper possible:
• Burbank Water and Power
• Irvine Ranch Water District
• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
• Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
• Moulton Niguel Water District
• San Diego County Water Authority
• San Diego Gas and Electric
• Southern California Edison
• Southern California Gas

Southern California Water Coalition thanks the members of the Water-Energy Efficiency Task Force in general and the following individuals specifically for their efforts in producing this document:

• Drew Atwater, Moulton Niguel Water District
• Rhonda Himley, Moulton Niguel Water District
• Elaina Hurst, Moulton Niguel Water District
• William McDonnell, Inland Empire Utilities Agency

The post Rewiring Water Conservation for Energy appeared first on Southern California Water Coalition.