The Desert Sun, Palm Springs CA
MyDesert.com
July 31, 2008
Ortega and Wohlmuth to promote new programs in valley
Two Coachella Valley officials head to Oslo Saturday for an international meeting on energy efficiency where they will be touting the desert's rising profile as an incubator for innovative, eco-friendly programs.
Palm Desert City Manager Carlos Ortega and John Wohlmuth, executive director of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, will travel to the capital of Norway for the annual meeting of the Aspen Accord, a consortium of cities and utility companies in California and Sweden that collaborate on energy conservation programs.
Ortega will be making a presentation on Palm Desert’s five-year campaign to cut energy use by 30 percent — a project that grew out of an Aspen Accord meeting in 2005.
"We're talking about the progress in our current program and also talking about AB 811,” Ortega said, referring to the Palm Desert-sponsored law allowing California cities to provide residents with low-cost loans for energy-efficient air conditioners and solar panels.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law earlier this month, and Palm Desert officials are now setting up what will likely be the first loan program in the state.
Wohlmuth is going to gather information and support for a CVAG partnership program with Southern California Edison and the Gas Company, similar to Palm Desert's. Both CVAG and Palm Springs have submitted applications for utility partnership programs to the California Public Utilities Commission.
"There's an interest in knowing what a regional government can provide to these programs, how regional government can reach out to it members," Wohlmuth said.
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