Tag Archives: energy efficiency industry

Josh Craft, Public Policy Associate

April brings showers and a whirlwind of legislative activity, as states hold hearings and votes on the major energy issue before them. NEEP has been actively engaged in the public policy process, seeking to educate our leaders and provide expert testimony on matters related to energy efficiency policy and building energy use.

Busy Time in the State Legislatures

We have been closely following developments related to energy efficiency policy in state legislatures throughout the Northeast.  Here’s a round-up of what’s happening:

• Building Energy Codes: NEEP’s building energy codes staff testified against provisions in Maine and Pennsylvania that would undermine or repeal the state’s building energy codes. The Pennsylvania bill, HB 377, has passed the General Assembly and now heads to the Governor for final consideration.
• Building Energy Disclosure: Measures to promote statewide disclosure, benchmarking, and rating of energy use in buildings have received serious consideration this year in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Vermont. NEEP believes these efforts could have significant impact on the market for energy efficiency and will be watching these developments closely throughout the next year.
• Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI): Efforts to repeal RGGI continue in New Hampshire, where the state Senate is set to consider HB 519 this month. NEEP has opposed this legislation as detrimental to the state’s economy and energy efficiency programs. Maine also recently considered a bill to leave RGGI, LD 793, while Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is also weighing leaving the program, though no policy change has been formally proposed.
• Oil heat energy efficiency: Maine and Massachusetts are considering new energy efficiency programs for oil heat customers, a missing link in energy savings programs in the Northeast. Maine held initial hearings on its oil heat programs last week.
• Property Assessed Clean Energy: States are considering new mechanisms to allow municipalities and property owners to pay for energy improvements to their homes and businesses, sometimes known as “PACE 2.0.” Maine’s PACE Loan program launched early this month, while legislation is moving forward to create similar programs in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

NEEP Resources

Noteworthy Reports and Information

• The Maryland Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released “Fall Behind on Energy Efficiency,” detailing the difficulties Maryland is having in reaching its EmPower Maryland Act energy savings goals. While much progress was made by the utilities in 2011, the state is unlikely to meet its goal of 15 percent reduction in electricity use by 2015. The report cites poor oversight and evaluation by the Public Service Commission and the use of restrictive cost effectiveness tests in inhibiting energy efficiency programs.
• Efficiency Vermont has released its initial energy savings claim for 2010, available online here. The report shows significantly higher energy savings than last year, jumping 34 percent to 114,000 MWh in annual electric savings. That represents more than 2 percent of the state’s electric load.