Berkeley, the California city which hosts the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has had a long commitment to finding ways of using resources sustainably. In 2001, in the midst of the state's electricity crisis, the City's Energy Officer, Neal De Snoo, met with Mark Levine, Director of Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Professor Daniel Kammen of the Energy and Resources Group of the University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley Lab staff scientists Charles Williams and Rick Diamond, and other experts to talk about how they could help the city deal with energy shortages.

They agreed to form the Berkeley Energy Technical Advisory Group (BETAG), an informal body designed to provide access to technical expertise at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley to the City's Energy Office. The California electricity crisis motivated Berkeley to develop programs to help residents and small businesses lower their energy bills by improving energy efficiency.

The City's efforts have included a turn-key small business lighting improvement program and a program to sell energy-efficient CFLs and other products at reduced cost through Berkeley retail outlets, as well as assessments of the potential for renewable energy and cogeneration to supply an increased portion of the city's energy needs. BETAG members reviewed a plan to install solar panels on the city's Public Safety Building and has also reviewed and suggested improvements to Berkeley's energy efficiency master plan.

BETAG is not a decision-making body -- it makes available energy expertise from Berkeley Lab and the University to the city when a technical review of a proposed energy efficiency program is needed, or when a sustainable energy or energy efficiency-related request-for-proposals is being issued by the City. "The Lab is a great asset to our community," says De Snoo, "Its involvement and technical guidance has improved our energy plan." The regular contact between city officials and Lab experts has helped keep the city abreast of the latest advances in energy efficiency, and it's a relationship that both parties praise and expect to continue.

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