Energy Efficiency Matters

Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts

This past Monday a large contingent of energy industry leaders met at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston to share ideas and discuss the status of energy transmission systems across the United States for the “New England Clean Energy Transmission Summit.” Everyone from operators to engineers to government employees were in attendance, with several major players in line to speak including Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Cheryl LaFleur and Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey.

So what was the issue? Well, the summit focused on the planning and technologies involved in energy transmission in the United States. The morning sessions involved several companies based in the mid-west and beyond, all speaking to transmission and the issues they have had in the past, present and future. As the day continued, panels shifted to grid planning in the Northeast, economic opportunities available in the energy industry and finally, how a more modern grid can help meet environmental goals.

Recently, Massachusetts’s landmark energy efficiency law, the Green Communities Act of 2008, has come under criticism for raising energy costs and harming state businesses at the expense of its utility companies. Governor Deval Patrick, though, reminded the people during his State of the Commonwealth speech that one of the nation’s most ambitious clean energy bills is paying off. Here’s the segment on the Green Communities Act in full:

“The clean energy industry grew nearly 7 percent in Massachusetts last year, and added thousands of kilowatts of renewable generation and thousands of jobs – not by accident but because we passed the Green Communities Act and joined the world’s fundamental shift towards efficiency and renewable energy.”

It was refreshing to see Governor Patrick give a strong defense of the measures. The politics around energy issues are vastly different than in 2008 when climate change drove governors across the Northeast to embrace energy efficiency as their first fuel. But the rationale for the Act remains largely the same: to attain the cheapest source of energy, achieve significant and last energy savings for residents and businesses, and to promote the growth of a clean energy industry, to paraphrase the governor.

As leaders on Beacon Hill begin to discuss possible revisions to the Green Communities Act, they should be skeptical about claims that it is increasing costs that fail to note the law’s many benefits. Massachusetts is now the national leader in energy efficiency. Business across the state are taking advantage of the law to save energy and money, as we will highlight in the coming weeks. And initial results show that the energy efficiency plans are on track to achieve over $3 billion in net benefits over the life of the measures (see below). That’s a great achievement for state law. We should thank the Governor for coming to its defense.

Source: MA DOER, "Energy Efficiency in Massachusetts: Our First Fuel," http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/doer/energy-efficiency/ee-story-booklet-web.pdf

Happy 2012 everyone! As we head full steam into 2012, NEEP’s Policy Team is keeping a close eye on five key policy developments that will have an impact on energy efficiency policy this year:

1. Major Energy Efficiency Polices under Attack

2012 looks to be a year in which landmark energy efficiency laws come under attack in state legislatures. In Massachusetts and Maine, for instance, their energy efficiency programs have come under scrutiny for being too costly. Legislative efforts are also underway to undermine building energy codes, similar to those in Maine and Pennsylvania last year. The silver lining may be that energy efficiency proponents will have the opportunity to show the real and significant benefits of energy efficiency to residents and businesses throughout the Northeast.

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In early December we wrote this post about two resources for developing the clean energy workforce.  As a new directory for Vermont is launched today, we’ve updated the post to provide up to date links to these resources.

As the economy continues to stumble, more states are accelerating their energy efficiency and clean energy programs to create jobs, save money and save energy. The need for a highly skilled and professional workforce to implement these programs successfully is rapidly expanding.

Massachusetts and Vermont are leading the region to provide online one-stop-shops for the public to find training and education opportunities in the clean energy sector.   The Massachusetts Clean Energy Careers Training and Education Directory (The directory) launched early this year and the Vermont Clean Energy Careers Training and Education Directory will be launching this month.
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