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Municipal Energy Planning

Guide for municipal decision-makers and experts

Date: Sofia, 2004

Extract from ” Energy efficiency demonstration zone in the city of Gabrovo“

Published by EnEffect

URL: www.eneffect.bg

LOCAL (MUNICIPAL) ENERGY PLANNING

Part one of the Guide reviews the interdependence between municipalities, energy resources and sustainable development of the territory. Special attention is paid to the new functions, which municipalities perform in the energy sector, as well as to the activities undertaken by them to reduce energy consumption and minimize the harmful impacts on the environment. Energy planning is presented as a major tool of local self-government.

Part Two is devoted to the information base of municipal energy planning. It describes the contents and structure of the energy database and the possible forms of organisation of information. The reader is introduced to the fundamental principles and capacity of the specialised software, applied by the member-municipalities of the Municipal Energy Efficiency Network EcoEnergy for collection, organisation and use of the information contained in the energy database. The principal types of analyses and assessments, to which the information may be subjected, as well as the conclusions that may be drawn for the purposes of management of the sustainable development process are highlighted step by step. The first steps in the preparatory work, which should be done prior to the compilation of the municipal energy programme, are reviewed. The possible approaches to and methods of formulation of the objectives and the scope of the programme and its design are highlighted, as well as the institutional prerequisites for its implementation. Recommendations are made as to how to formulate a motivated proposal to the municipal leadership concerning the elaboration of a municipal energy programme.

Part Three deals with the major steps of the process of compilation of the programme proper. The setting of the baseline and the baseline scenario of the programme are reviewed. The steps related to ranking of the target groups according to their potential for energy efficiency improvement and identification of the tools by which the municipality can influence the target groups as the basis on which the final version of the programme is compiled are dealt with in ample detail.

Part Four, the last one, is devoted to the communications with the general public as an important factor for the successful implementation of the energy efficiency programme. The review covers the types of communications, which the local authority may establish with the local population, as well as the major steps in planning the communication effort, including formulation of the objectives for every target group, the selection of the means of impact and the organisation of implementation and the evaluation of the plan for public relations.

For short, at certain places in this Guide the activities on the compilation of the programme are called « energy planning » and the energy efficiency programme -« energy programme ». Energy planning is a periodical (cyclic) activity, which is usually connected with the term of office of local authorities. By its nature and in terms of its designation, this activity is political, irrespective of the fact that it is based on objective technical and economic data and estimates.

This guide has been compiled on the basis of proprietary studies of the authors’ team from the Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect and after in-depth analysis of the experience in Europe and the USA. At the same time, the postulates in the Guide are aligned to the specific circumstances in Bulgaria. A genuine methodology for design of municipal energy programmes was developed. It is based on both the experience abroad and the experience and needs of Bulgarian municipalities. This methodology has been applied, tested in practice and upgraded in the course of several consecutive training courses for municipalities from Bulgaria, Serbia, Moldova and Macedonia.

The Guide makes ample use of the results from the survey of the experience of municipalities from Western Europe, Poland, the Czech Republic, the U.S.A. and Bulgaria in this field, conducted in the framework of the project of the US Agency for International Development2. Several possible approaches to the design and implementation of a municipal energy programme are described.

The sources of information comprise publications about the municipal programmes and initiatives of Graz, Saarbrucken, Hannover, Copenhagen and Leicester, municipal energy efficiency programmes of member-municipalities of the Municipal Energy Efficiency Network EcoEnergy, summary analyses from the practice in the field of municipal energy planning in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, and methodological guidelines on municipal energy planning, based on the experience in the European Union, the USA, the Netherlands and Bulgaria.

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