Power Economics An Executive's Guide to Energy Efficiency, Conservation, and Generation Strategies

Energy efficiency is more of a journey than a battle. It starts with small steps, taken at the local and state levels. It is a matter of identifying and then practicing good habits in our daily lives, at home and at work.

Every idea and process described in this book, if performed reasonably well, will put money in your pocket. You will not only save money; you will probably make money?and you will take important steps toward saving the planet.

Power Economics is a book for thoughtful people who want to cut their energy costs and diminish the harmful effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change and global warming are not speculative fantasies. They are real. They threaten communities, towns, cities, regions, nations, and continents. Even if you don't care about polar bears and penguins, the effects of melting icecaps and shifting ocean currents will transform your life and the lives of the people around you.

Power Economics offers practical steps and achievable strategies for reducing the destructive impact of climate change and global warming.

Yes, we need energy to live and to sustain our economies. But we don?t need to burn fossil fuels and release CO2 gas at levels that will result in a global catastrophe. There are reasonable alternatives to our current practices. None of the ideas that described in this book are entirely new or totally unfamiliar. They aren't extreme or bizarre. They won't require harsh or draconian measures to work. All of them follow basic rules of common sense and can be achieved at reasonable cost.

"I have done my best to convey the complexity and urgency of the matter. I hope that you find this book informative and useful. Working together, we can shed many of our wasteful energy habits and begin the task of building a world that is safe, sustainable and healthy," writes author and energy expert Elena Cahill.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Good Building, Bad Building

Chapter 2 Stabilizing Demand

Chapter 3 Why Batteries Matter

Chapter 4 Energy and the Law

Chapter 5 Your Role in Reducing Carbon Output

Chapter 6 Focus on What’s Doable

Chapter 7 The Power of Local Action

Chapter 8 Conservation, Efficiency, and Generation

Chapter 9 Pricing Energy: It’s Complicated

Chapter 10 Understand Your Energy Bills

Chapter 11 Find the Money

Chapter 12 Educate and Communicate

Appendix A Tips for Saving Energy at Home

Appendix B Resources

Bibliography and Recommended Reading

Expert Sources

About the Author

Index

ELENA CAHILL is an attorney, educator, business executive, investor, and entrepreneur. She is a respected thought leader and energy industry consultant with decades of hands-on experience.

She serves as Director of the Ernest C. Trefz School of Business College of Engineering, Business, and Education at the University of Bridgeport, a post she has held since 2018. In 2009, she founded Globelé Energy, LLC, a women-owned professional energy service firm located in New Haven, CT. Globelé Energy benefits the commercial and industrial sector by providing customized solutions for energy conservation, efficiency and generation services, outsourced energy management and auditing services, and energy procurement services for both electricity and natural gas.

She was also the CEO and Founder of Aequitas Energy, Inc., a deregulated electric supply company licensed in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Cahill is a current member of the Association of Energy Engineers, the Town of Branford Ad Hoc Energy Committee, CTNext Higher Education Innovation Advisory Board member, and a Board member of the Entrepreneur Foundation and the Connecticut Consortium of Entrepreneur Educators. She is a prior board member of the Connecticut Power and Energy Society.