iIn a move that had been in the works for a while, the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that its Clean Energy Application Centers have been rebranded as CHP Technical Assistance Partnerships, or CHP TAPs. The rebranding builds upon the Executive Order issued last year promoting CHP (i.e., combined heat and power) and aims to foster constituent understanding of the assistance that the CHP TAPs provide.
The CHP TAPs "promote and assist in transforming the market for CHP, waste heat to power, and district energy technology and concepts through the United States." The services provided by the CHP TAPs include market opportunity analyses, education and outreach and technical assistance with projects ranging from initial screening to installation.
The CHP TAPs maintain the same regional offices that existed under the former Clean Energy Application Centers:
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Pacific (California, Nevada);
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Southwest (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Wyoming);
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Northwest (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington);
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Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota);
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Southeast (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee);
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Mid-Atlantic (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia); and
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Northeast (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont).
With the new energy in these programs, now is the time to take advantage of the expertise offered by the Department of Energy and its CHP TAPs. Industrial users, municipalities, hospitals, college campuses and other large users of energy need to review and understand the significant benefits of CHP, district energy and waste heat capture technologies.
