Turning over new ground: An impact evaluation of an irrigated agriculture program

The Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) operates an electricity conservation program for the irrigated agriculture sector in the Pacific Northwest. This paper briefly describes the program, the problems involved in evaluating the program, evaluation, and results. Bonneville found that robust energy consumption models can be specified, that the methods used to prredict energy savings based on physical measurements of pump horse power reductions are accurate and reliable, and that the program is cost-effective to Bonneville and the region.