Category Archives: Policy News

Get the latest on energy efficiency policy analysis in the Northeast and Midatlantic region

March Public Policy Tracker: Regional CHP Dialogue, Oil Heat Efficiency Legislation & More

Posted on March 25, 2013 by | Leave a comment

This edition of the Policy Tracker finds us right in the middle of legislative sessions in the Northeast states. Over the past monthly, NEEP has been engaged in a number of important policy discussions, including on the future of combined heat and power, oil heat energy efficiency programs, If you have questions or would like more information, please send a note to me at jcraft@neep.org.

Regional Industrial Energy Efficiency Dialogue

064NEEP helped lead the Department of Energy’s recent Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Regional Dialogue on Industrial Energy Efficiency in Baltimore on March 12th. Policymakers, utility representatives, and academic experts discussed the potential benefits that expanded combined heat and power (CHP) capacity and barriers and policy drivers would bring. NEEP’s Sue Coakley moderated a panel to discuss successes with CHP in states throughout our region. We were pleased to have excellent speakers from Northeast Utilities, NYSERDA, National Grid, Sikorsky Aircraft, UMass Medical School, and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER). Massachusetts Undersecretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Barbara Kates-Garnick delivered a keynote address. For more information, see DOE’s new “Guide to the Successful Implementation of State Combined Heat and Power Policies.”

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More from Baltimore: Taking down the barriers, accelerating the drivers to CHP

Posted on March 13, 2013 by | Leave a comment

A great dialogue continues here in Baltimore on accelerating industrial energy efficiency and combined heat and power (CHP) in the region.

Not only do public policies need to provide a solid framework that allows for CHP to be broadly deployed, but champions among end users really need to drive projects and help other stakeholders understand their value propositions.

Those points were driven home particularly by John Baker, Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Management at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, as well as speakers from New Jersey and New York, including Brian Platt of NYSERDA, Mike Winka, director of the Office of Clean Energy in New Jersey, and Steven Goldenberg, chief counsel to the New Jersey Large Energy Users Coalition. Continue reading →

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Opportunities and Successes in Industrial Energy Efficiency and CHP

Posted on March 13, 2013 by | 1 Comment

CHP, Industrial Efficiency Dialogue in Baltimore Maryland To help set the table for the U.S. DOE and NEEP co-hosted dialogue on advancing industrial energy efficiency and CHP, NEEP’s Sue Coakley is moderating a discussion on ‘Opportunities and Successes.’ She started this dialogue by showing a video from NEEP’s 2012 Energy Efficiency Summit in Stamford, Conn. that highlighted Sikorsky Aircraft and the energy efficiency and CHP investments they’ve made to their Stratford plant. With support from United Illuminating, Sikorsky is aiming to make their facility zero net energy with the help of an innovative co-generation unit. And with support from the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, the payback period for Sikorsky’s measures has been dropped to under four years.

Showing that best practices are not limited to New England, Jim Freihaut, director of the Mid-Atlantic Clean Energy Application Center at Penn State University, highlighted Proctor and Gamble’s Mehoopany, PA paper products plant, which has saved so much energy with its CHP application, that the company has closed plants in other states and moved those jobs to Pennsylvania. Continue reading →

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Dialogue on Industrial Efficiency and CHP Kicks Off in Baltimore

Posted on March 13, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Good morning from Baltimore, where the U.S. Department of Energy and NEEP have just kicked off our Regional Dialogue on Accelerating Industrial Energy Efficiency and Combined Heat and Power (CHP). This meeting is being held to advance the development and implementation of state-level best practices in both public policies and investment models that address the barriers to greater investments in industrial efficiency and CHP in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region.

Jason Miller, of the National Economic Council and a Special Assistant to President Obama for Manufacturing Policy, welcomed the 160+ participants here in Baltimore by highlighting the President’s Executive Order that sets a national goal of 40 gigawatts of new, cost-effective CHP by 2020. In noting that a revitalized manufacturing sector is a core element of the administration’s economic development agenda, Miller noted the importance of accelerating efficiency and CHP in this sector because “Energy is intertwined with competitiveness. Continue reading →

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Posted in Best Practices, Buildings, Policy News, Uncategorized

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Hanging with the Grassroots, and Promoting Oilheat Efficiency in Massachusetts

Posted on March 11, 2013 by | Leave a comment

We at NEEP spend most of our time in a pretty wonky universe. We work to advance energy efficiency policies and programs, but rarely do we get the chance to talk directly to “real people.” That is why it was so refreshing to attend the Local Environmental Action Conference over the weekend at Northeastern University in Boston.

Josh Craft of NEEP (center) spoke to a packed house about energy efficiency. He was joined on the Clean Energy panel by energy and climate expert Marc Breslow and Danielle Falzon of Environment Massachusetts.

Josh Craft of NEEP (center) spoke to a packed house about energy efficiency. He was joined on the Clean Energy panel by energy and climate expert Marc Breslow and Danielle Falzon of Environment Massachusetts.

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Welcome Words, Obama Makes the Case for Energy Action

Posted on February 13, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Hallelujah. Finally, we have an American president devoting considerable attention to the topic of climate change and the energy policies that drive it.

1360724706619.cachedIn his State of the Union address last night, President Obama made very clear that the time has come to act. For those of us engaged in ending energy waste and believing we can do more with less, his words were most welcome. The President is absolutely right in asserting that “After years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own energy future.”  But that sentence did more than just allow him to introduce the litany of progress that we’ve made; it also marked a call to end the “phony debate” on whether climate change is real.

Enough.

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Progress in NH, landmark energy efficiency plans, and more news from NEEP’s Policy Highlights!

Posted on February 12, 2013 by | Leave a comment

NEEP's Policy Hihglights Newsletter Banner2013 is off to a roaring start in terms of energy efficiency in the region, with the approval of landmark efficiency programs in five states (Mass., Conn., N.H., Maine and R.I.), a major new report by ISO-New England showing that electricity prices and consumption are falling, The proposal of nine RGGI states to lower the carbon cap by 45 percent, and several exciting pieces of legislation across the region.

NEEP is particularly heartened by signs of progress that New Hampshire might make big improvements in how it values efficiency as a resource, legislation in Massachusetts to create the region’s first oilheat efficiency fund, and in Connecticut to create a building asset rating program. Look for our Policy Tracker in a few weeks for much more on key legislative and regulatory developments.With so much going on, it’s timely that the Restructuring Roundtable is hosting a half-day of presentations and dialogue on energy efficiency at their February 15 meeting in Boston, which is open to the public. NEEP’s Executive Director Sue Coakley will join the panel to share regional perspectives, preview a new regional energy efficiency dashboard, and touch on how complementary policies like codes and standards are playing an increasingly important role in states across the Northeast.

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Posted in Best Practices, Policy News