ACEEE ENDORSES EFFICIENCY BILLS

Congress Advances Legislation Promoting Energy Efficiency
April 1, 2009 (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy)

SUMMARY
Proposals that will advance U.S. energy efficiency are moving forward in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

As reported earlier by NewEnergyNews, a draft proposal of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA), an ambitious, wide-ranging energy, climate change and efficiency bill, was introduced in the House of Representatives by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif) and energy and environment hero Ed Markey (D-Mass). (See ...FIRST DRAFT OF HISTORY)

In the Senate Energy Committee, 4 bills (sponsored by Committee Chair Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski, R-Ak) with important efficiency components are moving forward.

The House bill includes
- a national Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) requiring utilities to institute efficiencies improving electricity use 15% and natural gas use 10% by 2020.
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- a retrofit program to cut energy consumption in homes and commercial buildings up to 20%.
- minimum standards on 6 products: Portable lighting fixtures (floor and table lamps); outdoor lighting fixtures; commercial furnaces; drinking water dispensers; hot tubs; and hot food holding cabinets.
- reforms to federal appliance standards improving the power of DOE to set “technically feasible” and “economically justified” requirements.
- an upgrade of building codes to require 30% energy use cuts in new buildings by 2010 and 50% cuts by 2016.
- a program labeling buildings for prospective purchasers and tenants.
- requirements for transportation sector greenhouse gas reduction goals from states and cities, EPA action on heavy trucks, marine vessels, locomotives, and aircraft emissions, and more authority for EPA’s SmartWay Transport Program to maximize goods movement efficiency.

A variety of efficiency measures will make a huge difference. (click to enlarge)

The Senate bills include:
- new and/or improved efficiency standards on portable lighting fixtures.
- new and/or improved federal programs for energy efficiency in the industrial sector.
- extended/expanded DOE R&D and workforce training programs.
- best practices programs in energy use, water treatment and delivery, fuel refining, and electricity generation.
- closing a loophole allowing an inefficient lamp to remain on the market.
- improved federal standards for commercial furnaces.

So important it is being mandated. (click to enlarge)

COMMENTARY
ACEEE has been a forceful advocate for a national EERS because such a standard has, at the state level, been demonstrated to produce significant results. The proposed House EERS would include residential and commercial cuts in energy consumption, improved codes and standards, combined heat and power requirements and recovered waste energy projects.

The EERS is based on Congressman Markey’s H.R. 889. The retrofit provision in the House proposal is based on H.R. 1778 from Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt). The building code upgrade was in the 2007 energy bill.

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The transportation sector improvements require states to set specific goals for specific dates. Cities must have strategies like zoning and land use updates, public transit plans and pricing measures.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) brought the amendment to eliminate the inefficient lamp. Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) brought the amendment to tighten commercial furnace standards.

There is a long legislative process between these ambitious submissions and 1 final law. Waxman says his Energy and Commerce Committee will get their bill to the House floor by the end of May. Senate leaders hope to get their Energy Committee legislation up for a floor vote by the end of April.

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QUOTES
- Steven Nadel, Executive Director, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE): “Energy efficiency policies are a key strategy for keeping the cost of climate change legislation to modest levels…Efficiency policies and investments reduce the number of power plants that must be built or upgraded, substantially reducing the cost of a cap and trade program. The policies in ACESA go a long way toward accomplishing the efficiency savings we need.”
- Nadel, ACEEE: "By closing this loophole, the Menendez amendment will save enough electricity each year to serve about 300,000 average American homes…We thank Senator Menendez for leading this important effort."