CEP Sustainability & Energy Efficiency 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What distinguishes a 'green tariff' program offered by a utility from a standard Renewable Energy Certificate purchase?
- Green tariffs provide utility-administered renewable electricity supply paired with RECs under a regulated rate structure (Correct answer)
- Green tariffs allow direct negotiation with renewable generators without utility involvement
- Green tariffs are only available for residential customers
- Green tariffs guarantee physical delivery of renewable electrons to a specific facility
Correct answer: Green tariffs provide utility-administered renewable electricity supply paired with RECs under a regulated rate structure
Green tariffs are utility-offered programs that bundle renewable energy supply and RECs under a regulated rate, simplifying renewable procurement for commercial customers.
Question 2: An energy manager calculates a simple payback period of 4 years for a $200,000 efficiency project. What annual savings does this project generate?
- $50,000 (Correct answer)
- $40,000
- $25,000
- $800,000
Correct answer: $50,000
Simple payback = Investment ÷ Annual Savings; $200,000 ÷ 4 years = $50,000 annual savings.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of an Energy Performance Contract (EPC) with an Energy Service Company (ESCO)?
- The ESCO finances and implements efficiency improvements, with repayment guaranteed from the resulting energy savings (Correct answer)
- The ESCO provides fixed-price energy supply for a contracted term
- The ESCO manages the utility billing and demand response programs
- The ESCO certifies the building's energy performance rating
Correct answer: The ESCO finances and implements efficiency improvements, with repayment guaranteed from the resulting energy savings
In an EPC, the ESCO guarantees that efficiency improvements will generate enough savings to cover the project investment and its financing.
Question 4: Which building rating system is most specifically focused on energy performance and commonly used for commercial real estate benchmarking in the US?
- ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (Correct answer)
- LEED
- BREEAM
- WELL Building Standard
Correct answer: ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
EPA's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is the primary US benchmarking tool for commercial building energy performance, generating a 1-100 score.
Question 5: A company wants to demonstrate '24/7 carbon-free energy' matching. What does this commitment require beyond standard annual REC matching?
- Matching renewable energy consumption hour-by-hour in the same grid region where electricity is consumed (Correct answer)
- Purchasing RECs from at least three different renewable technologies annually
- Achieving carbon neutrality across all three GHG Protocol scopes
- Installing on-site renewable generation covering 24% of annual consumption
Correct answer: Matching renewable energy consumption hour-by-hour in the same grid region where electricity is consumed
24/7 CFE requires temporal and locational matching of renewable generation to consumption every hour, not just annual aggregation.
Question 6: Which demand response program type compensates customers for reducing load when called upon by the grid operator during high-demand events?
- Interruptible load programs (Correct answer)
- Real-time pricing tariffs
- Critical peak rebates
- Time-of-use rates
Correct answer: Interruptible load programs
Interruptible load programs pay customers a capacity or curtailment payment in exchange for committing to reduce load when the grid operator issues a curtailment event.
Question 7: When evaluating the environmental attributes of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which factor most directly determines the 'deliverability' of the renewable energy?
- Whether the project is in the same or an electrically connected grid region as the buyer's load (Correct answer)
- The nameplate capacity of the renewable project
- The vintage year of the RECs being generated
- The contract term length of the PPA
Correct answer: Whether the project is in the same or an electrically connected grid region as the buyer's load
Deliverability depends on the renewable generator being within the same grid region or having a transmission path that allows the power to reach the buyer's location.
CEP Sustainability & Energy Efficiency 4
What distinguishes a 'green tariff' program offered by a utility from a standard Renewable Energy Certificate purchase?