News

  • U.S. energy-efficiency programs: A good news, bad news story

    23 Nov 2011 9:18 am
    November 23, 2011 — 7:57am ET | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

    Featured by Fierce Energy website.

    The tale of today's energy-efficiency programs is a good news, bad news story.

    The bad news is that many energy-efficiency programs have suffered from the harsh state of national fiscal realities, which have resulted in government roll backs of energy-efficiency funding and some program disruption. The good news is that utility energy-efficiency programs are, for the most part, standing strong. The energy-efficiency picture across the nation is improving, but at a slow pace, and faces a future of hard work and difficult decisions.

    Momentum in the Pacific NW

    A shining example of the momentum of energy efficiency is in the Pacific Northwest, where 2010 was a record year for energy conservation with 254 MW saved. This surpasses the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's (which tracks energy efficiency) goal by 25 percent. According to an October 12, 2011 article in the Spokesman Review, this is the single largest one-year gain in energy efficiency in the past 30 years and saved customers approximately $135 million through energy efficiencies. The upgrades targeted lighting, furnaces, major appliances, HVAC, insulation and water heaters.

    The Pacific Northwest is only one example of increasing energy-efficiency efforts. Massachusetts, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia and even Alaska have all targeted big energy-efficiency projects.

    Energy industry reports are another indicator of progress in energy efficiency. Year-over-year reports show more consumer funds going through utilities into energy efficiency, which will be an important factor in the momentum of energy-efficiency programs over the next few years, according to Richard Sedano, Director of U.S. Programs with the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), speaking at NAESCO's 28th Annual Meeting in San Diego recently. RAP is a non-profit organization providing technical and educational assistance to government officials on energy and environmental issues.

    A New Business Model

    In order to maintain the momentum that has been building, some things need to change.

    With the current model, utilities are asked to implement many new and different programs, which is more than with past models. But the way utilities are compensated remains the same.

    Sedano is calling for regulators to implement a structure where utilities won't lose revenue due to energy efficiency and will be compensated based on various performance measures, including reliability performance, service quality performance, renewables, etc.

    "Anything that matters to customers," Sedano said.

    Known in the industry as "decoupling," this type of approach disassociates a utility's profits from electricity sales. Instead, a rate of return is aligned with meeting revenue targets and is often based on performance goals and the ability of energy efficiency to operate within the utility environment and make customers to become a primary focus.

    According to Sedano, most current rate structures focus on electricity sales and the investors' bottom line, but utilities and regulators need to understand that efficiency and serving the energy needs of the customer will be an increasing part of their future.

    Washington has implemented a partial decoupling structure. According to RAP's "Revenue Regulation and Decoupling: A Guide to Theory," Avista Utilities combined a conservation incentive/decoupling mechanism that allowed them to recover a percentage of lost distribution margins from sales declines in proportion to its percentage achievement of a Commission-approved conservation target. If Avista achieved the full conservation target, it was allowed to recover all of its lost margins, but if it fell short, it was allowed only partial recovery.

    According to the RAP, one of the shortcomings of traditional utility pricing approaches is that a utility's actual revenue collection can be significantly higher or lower than its actual cost of providing service. The different revenue functions that can be applied with decoupling offer a means of keeping the utility's revenue collections much closer to its actual cost of service over time, which should result in smaller rate case revenue deficiencies or excesses, lessening their associated potential for "rate shock," RAP said.

    According to the report, a volumetric rate design combined with decoupling produces stable utility earnings as evidenced by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). Over the past three years, since decoupling was restored after the termination of the California deregulation experiment, the earnings per share for PG&E have been $1.01 billion, $971 million, and $918 million. This stability was achieved despite a $1.4 billion increase in operating expenses, mostly the cost of electricity, during this period.

    Regulators Remain Unconvinced

    Despite the powerful incentives of decoupling, regulators and the industry still struggle with how to break the sales-revenue link and motivate utilities. Breaking the link should streamline the regulatory process for rate adjustments, but regulators are still having trouble adjusting to the way they view the problem, said Sedano.

    According to RAP, regulators need to consider the answers to these questions:

    •How are risks borne by utilities and consumers under decoupling, as opposed to traditional regulation?
    •Are utilities being compensated for the right things?
    •What value is derived from removing sales as a motivator for utility management?
    •What value is derived from creating a revenue function that more accurately collects revenue to match actual costs over time?
    •What are the expected benefits of decoupling?
    •What, if anything, will society be giving up when it replaces traditional price-based regulation with revenue-based regulation?
    In large part, regulators remain skeptical of the benefits of energy efficiency and decoupling. According to Sedano, there are people in important regulatory jobs who are unconvinced that savings from energy efficiency are real.

    Vermont, Oregon and several other states have implemented third-party energy-efficiency utilities. Some advocates believe that by moving efficiency outside the utility, there is no longer a need for revenue decoupling, because the utility is no longer in a position to resist or obstruct energy-efficiency investment, according to RAP. However, the report notes that Vermont and Oregon have found revenue decoupling a useful addition to a framework that includes a third-party provider, because utilities affect energy efficiency in more ways than simply making grants and loans to consumers for energy-efficiency measures.

  • Tax Plan to Turn Old Buildings ‘Green’ Finds Favor

    20 Sep 2011 2:54 pm
    By JUSTIN GILLIS
    Published: September 19, 2011

    A business consortium that includes Lockheed Martin and Barclays bank plans to invest as much as $650 million over the next few years to slash the energy consumption of buildings in the Miami and Sacramento areas. It is the most ambitious effort yet to jump-start a national market for energy upgrades that many people believe could eventually be worth billions.

    Focusing mainly on commercial property at first, the group plans to exploit a new tax arrangement that allows property owners to upgrade their buildings at no upfront cost, typically cutting their energy use and their utility bills by a third. The building owners would pay for the upgrades over five to 20 years through surcharges on their property-tax bills, but that would be less than the savings.

    The consortium is led by a company called Ygrene Energy Fund of Santa Rosa, Calif., which has already won an exclusive contract to manage a retrofit program for a half-dozen communities in the Miami area, with the city expected to join in a few weeks. It is in the late stages of completing a contract with Sacramento, and is seeking deals in other cities.

    State and city officials are optimistic they may have found a way to tackle one of the nation’s biggest energy problems — waste in older buildings — without new money from Washington. If enough building owners sign on, private capital would be put to work paying for retrofit projects that promise to save local businesses money while creating thousands of new construction jobs.

    “We are so used to reaching our hand out and saying, ‘Washington, we need this,’ and ‘Tallahassee, give us that,’ ” said Edward MacDougall, the mayor of Cutler Bay, Fla., a Miami suburb that took the lead in setting up the deal in that region. “This is really a home-grown mechanism where we don’t need to do that.”

    The consortium was put together by the Carbon War Room, a nonprofit environmental group based in Washington set up by Richard Branson, the British entrepreneur and billionaire, to tackle the world’s climate and energy problems in cost-saving ways. With the United States government nearly paralyzed on climate policy, he said, his group is seeking a way forward.

    “We see this as the first of hopefully many, many, many projects, and a big step in the right direction,” Mr. Branson said in an interview last weekend in New York.

    In the past three years, half the states have passed legislation permitting energy retrofits financed by property-tax surcharges, and hundreds of cities and counties are considering such programs. While the situation poses some risks, and programs aimed specifically at homeowners have run into a snag, many jurisdictions are moving forward with plans to focus on commercial properties.

    Environmental groups have lauded the trend as one of the most exciting developments in years regarding climate change. They point out that wide use of such programs could cut emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from power plants by reducing electricity demand.

    “It’s a big deal,” said James D. Marston, head of energy programs for the Environmental Defense Fund, a group that has worked with Carbon War Room in developing the approach. Over the long haul, he said, “we’re talking about tens of billions of dollars in investments, and energy savings that are 10 times that amount. If you do this correctly, you would be able to shut down a third of the coal plants in the country.”

    While that may take a while, there seems to be little question that the new approach could draw substantial private capital into the market for energy upgrades, which have historically been difficult for many midsize and smaller businesses to finance.

    As envisioned for Miami and Sacramento, the plans will work like this:

    Ygrene and its partners will gain exclusive rights for five years to offer this type of energy upgrade to businesses in a particular community. They will market the plan aggressively, helping property owners figure out what kinds of upgrades make sense for them. Lockheed Martin is expected to do the engineering work on many larger projects.

    The retrofits might include new windows and doors, insulation, and more efficient lights and mechanical systems. In some cases, solar panels or other renewable power might be included. For factories, the retrofits might include new motors or other gear.

    Short-term loans provided by Barclays Capital will be used to pay for the upgrades. Contractors will offer a warranty that the utility savings they have promised will actually materialize, and an insurance underwriter, Energi, of Peabody, Mass., will back up that warranty. Those insurance contracts, in turn, will be backed by Hannover Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies.

    As projects are completed, the upgrade loans, typically carrying interest rates of 7 percent, will be bundled into long-term bonds resembling those routinely issued by governmental taxing districts. Barclays will market the bonds. Retirement funds have expressed interest in buying these bonds, which will be repaid by tax surcharges on each property that undergoes a retrofit.

    Perhaps the most serious risk is that fly-by-night contractors will be drawn to the new pot of money, pushing energy retrofits that are too costly or work poorly.

    “Contractors are cowboys,” said Dennis Hunter, chairman of Ygrene. He promised close scrutiny of the ones selected for the Miami and Sacramento programs.

    Ygrene is one of about a dozen start-up companies around the country pursuing such deals. The company appears to have substantial momentum, but some of its competitors have already stumbled, telling property owners they qualified for retrofits but then failing to deliver the necessary short-term financing. Still, many people are optimistic this approach will get off the ground.

    “This is a game-changer,” said John D. Kinney, whose company, Clean Fund of San Rafael, Calif., has raised $250 million to invest in such projects. The company just used the technique to help finance a large solar installation at a development called Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park, Calif.

    Experts point out that, with modern techniques and equipment, a retrofit can typically cut a building’s energy use so much that the project pays for itself in as little as five years. The most famous recent example was the refurbishment of the Empire State Building, which cut energy use by nearly 40 percent, turning it into one of New York’s greenest buildings.

    The new financing approach is called Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE.

    For decades, cities and counties have created special taxing districts to finance improvements that benefit private property, such as street lights or sewers. Bonds are issued to pay for the projects, then repaid with surcharges on tax bills. If an owner sells, the surcharge stays with the property.

    Several years ago, the city of Berkeley, Calif., hit on the idea of using that approach to finance energy upgrades on private homes. The idea took off, and 25 states and the District of Columbia soon passed PACE legislation. One of the most successful programs to date has been in Sonoma County, Calif., where retrofit projects exceeding $50 million have been financed.

    While the initial focus was on homeowners, those programs slowed last year when an arm of the federal government that oversees the mortgage market took a hostile stance toward such projects on residential property, on the grounds that they add risk to mortgages. In most states, a lien associated with a retrofit project would have to be paid ahead of the mortgage if the property went into foreclosure.

    A legal and political battle is under way to try to force the Federal Housing Finance Agency to reverse its stand. So far, it appears that PACE programs for commercial properties pose fewer legal complications.

  • The truth about clean energy jobs

    14 Sep 2011 11:59 am
    By JAMES DIXON | 9/14/11 5:08 AM EDT

    Recent news reports might have you believe the rise of the clean energy economy is a myth. Not true. Just look at energy efficiency’s economic impact. Since 1990, the energy service industry has provided $50 billion in energy savings, $25 billion in public infrastructure improvements and created roughly 330,000 jobs.

    Energy efficiency is an economic winner. This is not wishful thinking – it’s based on actual market experience.

    I have seen how energy efficiency, a key component of our expanding clean and green economy, saves taxpayers billions of dollars, creates U.S. jobs and sparks the kind of energy innovations America needs.

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week sent an open letter to the Obama administration and lawmakers, asking the president to issue an executive order requiring the Energy Department to make the federal Energy Savings Performance Contracts program a high priority.

    We second the chamber’s request for fast implementation — since the program could create 35,000 jobs a year, save energy and reduce government utility and administration costs.

    Under this program, energy service companies provide technical, engineering and managerial expertise, while private-sector financial institutions fund the retrofit projects — which make federal buildings significantly more energy efficient.

    The costs of design and installation of new technologies as well as equipment upgrades are to be paid back out of the energy savings over the life of the contract— at no net cost to the government.

    Every $1 million of ESPC project value is estimated to create about 10 direct jobs in engineering, construction and equipment manufacturing, professions hardest hit in this recession. The multiplier effect of the income created by these direct jobs provides another 10 to 12 indirect jobs per $1 million of project value.

    What this all means is that adoption of strong energy efficiency policies, like the federal energy savings program and similar programs already in place across the nation, create incentives for business and institutions to find ways to save energy and dollars.

    The skilled workforce required for these projects is currently suffering Great Depression levels of unemployment. Without any need for additional training, it is available today in communities across the country.

    In addition, creating these jobs requires no new taxes— because the projects are financed by re-directing dollars today spent on wasted energy.

    Some people say that our country should not continue to pursue a clean energy economy. They say it won’t translate into jobs.

    From an industry point of view, clearer and more directed policy direction from the federal government gives businesses, investors and entrepreneurs the clear market signals they need to find ways to save energy, save dollars and put Americans to work.

    James Dixon is the vice president for Legal & Compliance Services at Con Edison Energy and chairman of the National Association of Energy Service Companies.


  • Bipartisan PACE Bill Will Create Jobs at the Local Level

    8 Aug 2011 1:22 pm
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today a bipartisan group of members – Reps. Mike Thompson (D-CA), Nan Hayworth, M.D. (R-NY), and Dan Lungren (R-CA) – introduced the PACE Protection Act of 2011 (HR 2599). The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program – currently available in 27 states and the District of Columbia – allows property owners to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for their homes and commercial buildings – without any government subsidies or taxes. More important, it means lower utility bills for property owners and job creation in the hard hit construction industry.

    “PACE promotes energy efficiency in ways that are good for our country, our economy, and our environment,” said Rep. Thompson. “It saves property owners money by lowering energy costs and, perhaps more important, creates jobs without taxes or government subsidies. Congresswoman Hayworth, Congressman Lungren, and I are committed to protecting PACE for the future, which is why we introduced legislation to continue to allow property owners to finance innovative energy projects through these innovative, affordable, and responsible programs.”

    The PACE Protection Act addresses adverse action taken by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and their regulators at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) which has prevented communities nationwide from harnessing PACE benefits. The PACE Protection Act of 2011 is meant to protect PACE programs from federal overreach by the FHFA and allow them to continue reducing energy consumption, boosting our economy, and creating jobs, without mandates from the government or taxpayer funds.

    “PACE programs in our states have allowed homeowners to make energy-saving modifications on their houses through a voluntary assessment on their own property, at no cost to local taxpayers,” stated Rep. Hayworth. “PACE programs create jobs and help Americans to conserve energy, saving on those costs and protecting our environment. Unfortunately, interference by the Federal Home Finance Administration (FHFA) has prevented states from enabling all of their homeowners to take advantage of PACE. Our bill addresses the concerns of FHFA and facilitates participation by homeowners in every state with a PACE program, which will in turn promote conservation, energy savings, and job creation.”

    With unemployment hovering around 9%, legislation that focuses on creating jobs at the local level all across America is paramount. Independent studies have shown the benefits of PACE to be substantial to homeowners, the economy, the environment, and federal, state, and local governments.

    “My colleagues and I are fighting for a common sense program that would both increase the value of homes involved and help create jobs in our region. The time is now, more than ever to pass legislation that will accomplish this goal,” Rep. Lungren concluded.

    Congressman Mike Thompson is proud to represent California’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, and portions of Sonoma and Yolo counties. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Rep. Thompson is also a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and Co-Chair of the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus.


  • Slow start may have doomed Efficiency Kansas plan

    8 Aug 2011 12:24 pm
    By Fredrick J. Johnson

    The downfall of Efficiency Kansas may have been that the program started out slowly and became efficient too late to save its funding source — stimulus money from the federal government.

    Supporters of the program, however, say Gov. Sam Brownback's administration should have left some of the stimulus (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) money in the Efficiency Kansas pot rather than reallocate almost all that was left to three large renewable energy projects.

    The program finally gained momentum when utility companies — including Westar, BPU in Wyandotte County and others — became involved as conduits for the money, supporters say, and it could have put at least a few million dollars of the remaining funds to good use.

    Efficiency Kansas was initiated in late 2009 by then-Gov. Mark Parkinson to help finance energy audits and energy efficiency improvements in residential homes and small businesses.

    When the plug was pulled on the program, it was doing that.

    Kim Gronniger, manager of consumer services for Westar, said Thursday the utility had fielded 680 inquires about the program and made 120 loans valued at $881,078 before the Efficiency Kansas funding was reallocated.

    Westar had another 156 loans pending at the end of July that won't be made unless another funding source is identified, Gronniger said.


    LOSING OUT

    Larry Hein, of Topeka, was among those whose loans had been approved by Westar but now are in limbo.

    Hein said he had to get one more bid on some of the work recommended by an energy auditor before receiving final loan approval and beginning work on his project.

    For homeowners and small businesses, the program begins with an energy audit of the building, which includes a list of suggested improvements and the amount of energy that could be saved. The audit is reviewed by Efficiency Kansas, which sets a preapproved loan amount based on the recommended improvements.

    Property owners then get contractors' bids on the work, and Efficiency Kansas approves the final Energy Conservation Plan and a final loan amount. Once contractors finish the work, an energy post-audit is done to ensure the work has been done properly. The participating utility then pays the contractors' invoices and notifies Efficiency Kansas the project is complete.

    The money flows from Efficiency Kansas to the utility, which pays for the work. The homeowner then uses the monthly savings on the energy bill to pay off the interest-free loan, generally over a 15-year period. When the money comes back to the utility, it goes into a revolving fund to keep the program going. The loan stays with the property if it is sold. Property owners are responsible for informing buyers of the obligation.

    Hein said he qualified for a $9,400 loan that would have paid for such improvements as insulation and a new heating and cooling unit. His house was built in the 1940s and has no insulation in the exterior walls, he said, but he doesn't have the money to do the project without the interest-free loan that would have been paid back with saving on his energy bill.

    Property owners can use banks as the conduit for the Efficiency Kansas money, but the program's supporters say interest rates on bank loans deterred qualified applicants from going that route.

    Westar's only qualification for the program was that applicants must have stayed current on their energy bills for the past 12 months.


    ENERGY COMPANIES

    Bob Hughes, of Lawrence, an energy auditor who worked with homeowners interested in Efficiency Kansas, said Thursday participation by utilities gave the program a huge boost.

    Westar, Hughes said, didn't get approved to participate until early this year.

    Another auditor says the estimates for money going through Efficiency Kansas jumped from $300,00 in April to $600,000 in May, $1 million in June and between $1 million and $1.5 million in July.

    Hughes thinks the state might have left some money with Efficiency Kansas if the program's value had been based on June and July expenditures.

    As it is, there is still some money for the energy audits but no funding for the necessary improvements needed to reduce the property owners' energy consumption.

    The Kansas Corporation Commission announced July 21 that it had sought authority from the U.S. Department of Energy to allocate $22 million of the stimulus money to an ethanol project in Wichita, a biomethane facility in Oakley and development of a bio-based energy supply train.

    That move was sparked, the KCC said, by approach of an April 1, 2012, deadline imposed by the federal government for expenditure of the funds.

    Cara Sloan-Ramos, spokeswoman for the KCC, said Thursday the Department of Energy had given its preliminary approval to the projects but they were still undergoing some environmental review. When those reviews are completed and approved, she said, reallocation of the $22 million will be final.

    Sloan-Ramos said state energy office was searching for another source of funding for the energy conservation program but didn't yet have anything lined up.


    NOTIFICATION

    Hughes says he and other energy auditors were informed in late July all the funding for Efficiency Kansas project had been depleted.

    Efficiency Kansas couldn't have spent all the available funding by the federal government's deadline, Hughes said, but it could have put another $8 to $10 million through the program before the deadline if the money hadn't been cut off.

    Brent and Mindy Steele, of Lawrence, got their first energy audit in March and completed the Efficiency Kansas program in July, a week before it was defunded.

    Mindy Steele said the couple made $7,600 in improvements that included insulation and a new heating and cooling unit. Their energy costs were reduced by about $47 a month, which will go to Westar to repay the loan.

    "The program allowed us to do things we otherwise wouldn't have been able to do," said Steele, who added that the program also created a lot of work for energy auditors, and companies that install insulation, windows and doors and heating and air conditioning equipment.

    Steele said she and her husband had gotten some neighbors interested in the program just before learning the state had reallocated its money.

    "We were pretty bummed," she said.

    Fredrick J. Johnson can be reached

    at (785) 295-1181 or fred.johnson@cjonline.com

  • FHA and Fannie Mae Announce Green Refinance Plus to Pay for Energy-Efficient Upgrades in Affordable Apartment Buildings

    4 Jun 2011 12:15 pm
    RISMedia, June 4, 2011— U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced Green Refinance Plus, a program between HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Fannie Mae to allow owners of existing affordable rental housing properties to refinance into new mortgages that include funding for energy- and water-saving upgrades, along with other needed property renovations.

    Under the program, FHA and Fannie Mae will share the risk on loans to refinance existing rent-restricted projects while permitting owners to borrow additional funds to make energy-saving improvements to their properties.
    Donovan and Fannie Mae’s Executive Vice President for Multifamily Business Ken Bacon unveiled the program at a senior housing development in the San Francisco Bay Area where HUD is investing in energy-saving green retrofits.

    “All across the country, owners of affordable housing properties are looking for a way to refinance their mortgages and to make energy improvements and other needed renovations at the same time,” said Donovan. “This program kills two birds with one stone – it preserves our affordable rental stock and it helps finance upgrades that will save energy and money over the long haul. We must make the smart investments in a more energy independent economy. These investments will strengthen our economy, create the new industries and new jobs of the future and reduce our dependence on an ever fluctuating oil market. ”

    Bacon added, “Green Refinance Plus supports Fannie Mae’s ongoing commitment to creating a more sustainable rental housing market that is affordable to low- and moderate-income families. This program will provide more renters with renovated apartments in which to live, allow building owners to better manage their energy costs, and help communities by reducing the environmental footprint of our rental properties. Leveraging existing technology and expertise to bring proven energy and cost savings to rental housing is a win for everyone.”

    California Congressman Pete Stark said, “Today’s event highlights an exciting new refinancing opportunity for owners of affordable housing to make energy- and water-saving upgrades. It’s appropriate that the Green Refinance Plus program is being unveiled by Secretary Donovan at the Eden Issei Terrace in Hayward, in the heart of a community poised to help propel our country’s clean, green energy economy.”

    Approximately every 10-to-15 years, owners of existing multifamily affordable properties typically refinance their mortgages. In older apartment buildings, however, owners are hard-pressed to find additional financing to maintain or improve the physical condition of their properties, including making energy-efficient upgrades. Beginning next month, Fannie Mae and its participating lenders will begin accepting applications to refinance owners’ debt as well as improve the energy efficiency of their properties.

    Green Refinance Plus is intended to refinance the expiring mortgages of Low Income Housing Tax Credit and other affordable projects and to lower annual operating costs by reducing energy consumption. Fannie Mae and HUD anticipate approximately $100 million in initial refinance volume with an average loan amount of $3.5 to $5 million. FHA will insure up to an additional four-to-five percent of the loan amount, or an average of approximately $150,000 to $250,000 per loan, to provide additional loan funds to pay for i) property improvements that save energy and water costs for owners and tenants, such as energy efficient windows and ENERGY STAR appliances, as well as ii) other needed property renovations.

    Property owners will be able to select the energy- efficiency upgrades that make the most economic sense for their properties. Borrowers will obtain a “Green Physical Needs Assessment” completed by a qualified provider. This assessment identifies property improvements that both reduce energy and operating costs and will help borrowers make rehabilitation choices that will give them the greatest energy savings for their investment.

    Green Refinance Plus is an enhancement of the Fannie Mae/FHA Risk-Share program, begun in the 1990s. It will provide funding for the refinance, preservation and energy-efficient retrofits of older affordable multifamily housing properties, including those that are currently in Fannie Mae’s or FHA’s portfolios. This program allows for lower debt service coverage and higher loan-to-value ratios, to generate extra loan proceeds for property rehab and energy-efficient retrofits.
    HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.

  • EPA, DOE to Host Conference on What’s Working in Residential Energy Efficiency Upgrade Programs

    18 Apr 2011 3:36 pm
    Join us at What’s Working in Residential Energy Efficiency Upgrade Programs: Promising Approaches and Lessons Learned, on Friday, May 20, 2011, from 8am–5pm, at the Double Tree Crystal City, 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA 22202.

    The U.S. Department of Energy BetterBuildings Program is collaborating with the EPA/DOE Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program, EPA Climate Showcase Communities, and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to host this conference on Friday, May 20, 2011 in the Washington, DC area. The conference is a unique opportunity to learn from residential energy efficiency program implementers across the country, as well as share your own valuable experiences about residential energy efficiency upgrade program design and implementation.

    • Hear how programs are using innovative approaches to tackle and overcome barriers to achieving greater uptake of residential energy efficiency upgrades.
    • Learn how and why certain approaches have worked, and see the results that have been achieved to date.
    • Walk away with ideas to improve or enhance your program design and implementation.
    • Interact with attendees who include new and experienced program administrators and implementers, as well as private sector energy efficiency upgrade participants.
    This day of collective learning and information exchange will build on the policy-focused U.S. Department of Energy EECBG/SEP State and Local Government Clean Energy Summit taking place on May 18-19, 2011, at the same location.

    Special hotel rates (per diem) are available if booked by Friday, April 29.
    For more information about the conference, accommodations, the latest draft agenda, and to register, visit the conference website: http://www.sentech.org/Residential-Energy-Efficiency/index.html.


    ***

    State and local officials interested in additional information about developing and implementing cost-effective climate and energy strategies that help further environmental goals and achieve public health and economic benefits may visit:
    http://www.epa.gov/statelocalclimate

    To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this listserv, go to:
    http://www.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/listservs/index.html

  • Millions for weatherizing in Missouri is defended

    9 Apr 2011 12:14 am
    By Jeffrey Tomich
    St. Louis Post-Disptach

    April 9, 2011

    What had been a little-known home weatherization program has become the latest target for Republican state senators trying to make a point about runaway federal spending.

    The senators have proposed slashing $250 million of already approved federal stimulus projects as a trade-off for their agreement to drop their controversial bid to turn down federal money for unemployment assistance.

    The leader of the conservative group, Sen. Jim Lembke, R-Lemay, called the stimulus spending "a plethora of different pork barrel projects and pet projects." Chief among them: the weatherization program that pays to upgrade homes for low-income Missourians. That millions of dollars in federal funds has been 'sitting there" for two years proved his point that it was unneeded, Lembke said.

    But one of the biggest recipients of weatherization money awarded to any local agency in the state — the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis — disagrees with the characterization that the money isn't needed and worried about the possibility of losing financing for the program.

    "I've been in social services a long time, and this program is different," said Brenda Wrench, chief operating officer for the Urban League. "It changes clients' circumstances. It's a sustainable improvement."

    The weatherization program pays for 100 percent of the costs of energy efficiency upgrades for homeowners. For leased property, landlords have to pay 5 percent to 25 percent, depending on the size of the building.

    In 2009, the Urban League was allotted $17.6 million under the weatherization program, including $6.8 million in so-called 'special project" grants that have been used to improve local homeless shelters, Wrench said.

    So far, $7 million of that money has been spent to retrofit 1,160 St. Louis homes with more efficient furnaces, insulation, window caulking and other energy efficient upgrades. Another 900 projects worth $4 million are in the queue, leaving about $6 million to spend by March 31, when the program ends.

    Across the state, however, the money has been spent more slowly. Two years into a three-year program, Missouri had spent $47 million of a total of $129 million awarded under the program, or 37 percent, according to the latest data released by the Department of Natural Resources, which administers the program. Those figures show spending through January.

    Department officials did not respond to requests for comment Friday. But Department Deputy Director Dru Buntin said in March that it took a while for some community agencies to get ramped up to handle the enlarged weatherization program. Before the stimulus act, Missouri's program had received about $4 million to $6 million annually from the federal government, he said.

    In St. Louis, Rosie Smith, a widowed senior citizen, is among the beneficiaries. The program paid to seal her front door and insulate her home — work that she wouldn't have been able to do or afford herself. "It's a blessing to me," said Smith, who lives in north St. Louis. "I know I don't use as much heating and air conditioning as I used to."

    Those doing the work have benefited, too. The money being targeted by the Republican senators is the same money creating jobs and being used to buy equipment and materials from local retailers.

    Legacy Building Group of St. Louis is among the contractors doing the work authorized by the Urban League. The company has worked on more than 700 homes across the city over the last two years, putting 30 people to work who would otherwise be out of a job, President Todd Weaver said.

    "This is not the only thing we do, but it really helped out keeping people busy in this economic downturn," he said.

    Wrench said the Urban League has marketed the program aggressively at community fairs and meetings, and in radio and newspaper ads. Interest recently picked up after notices began going out in February in Ameren Missouri and Laclede Gas bills.

    The group is on track to spend all of the money it has been allocated, she said. "Our clients have responded very enthusiastically."

    The program is open to people earning up to twice the federal poverty level, which would be $21,780 for an individual or $44,700 for a family of four.

    Oversight is strict, she said. The Urban League initially got just 60 percent of the money it was allocated and had to demonstrate the effectiveness of its programs to qualify for the rest. The final 20 percent was awarded about a year ago.

    And state auditors visit every three months to review financial records and visit homes where work is performed. Representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy also have inspected some of the work.

    "This program has been the most scrutinized from a public administration aspect, as any program that I've ever seen," Wrench said.

    Virginia Young, of the Post-Dispatch, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.



    http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_60404c21-64f3-50d8-ac7f-8e48264b8eba.html

  • Mo. lags in use of stimulus for energy projects

    16 Mar 2011 1:13 pm
    By DAVID A. LIEB -- AP

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.

    Two years into a three-year program, Missouri has yet to spend most of the money it was allotted under a federal economic stimulus program intended to make homes more energy efficient for low-income residents.

    Missouri received nearly $129 million in low-income home weatherization funds under the 2009 stimulus act. As of the end of January, just $47 million of that -- or 37 percent of the total -- had been spent, according to figures from the Department of Natural Resources.

    Department Deputy Director Dru Buntin said Tuesday that it took a while for some community agencies to get ramped up to handle the enlarged weatherization program. Before the stimulus act, Missouri's program had received about $4 million to $6 million annually from the federal government, he said.

    Buntin said the percentage of money spent so far is lagging behind what the department expected, and the agency is reallocating some of the unspent money to local agencies that have been more successful in using it. The agency said it faces a federal deadline of March 31, 2012, to spend the money.

    Some Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee suggested Tuesday that it may already be too late for the money to accomplish its purpose of stimulating the economy.

    "We can't find any poor people in Missouri that will qualify to use this money?" Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis, asked during a committee hearing on a bill that would allow the state to spend the money in the fiscal year that starts July 1. "We're that inefficient?"

    Lembke is one of several Republican senators who have stalled action this year on bills to spend federal money, suggesting Missouri should take a symbolic stand against federal deficits by rejecting stimulus-style money for education and unemployment benefits. Other lawmakers have noted that if Missouri were to reject the federal money it likely would be redistributed to other states and not used to pay the federal debt.

    Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer, a former legal counsel at the Department of Natural Resources, said the agency shouldn't be faulted for low use of the low-income weatherization money. But he questioned whether the federal government had poured more money into the program than was necessary.

    "The public policy behind some of this stuff is baffling -- absolutely baffling," Schaefer said.

    The program helps pay the costs of energy efficiency audits and of home improvements such as the installation of insulation and tuneups for heating and air conditioning systems, which can save residents money on their monthly energy bills. The program is open to people earning up to twice the federal poverty level, which would be $21,780 for an individual or $44,700 for a family of four.




  • KB Home to lure buyers with energy bill savings

    20 Feb 2011 7:05 am
    By Alex Veiga -- AP

    LOS ANGELES -- Homebuilders say one of the biggest advantages of buying a newly built home is energy efficiency. However, some of the ways that builders make homes burn less cash might not be as recognizable to buyers as say, kitchen appliances, generous closets and bathroom amenities. So now some builders are boiling energy efficiency down to something every buyer understands: money.

    Last week, Los Angeles-based builder KB Home began giving prospective homebuyers an estimate upfront of what their monthly gas and electric bill will be if they buy one of the company's homes. The estimate label clearly shows buyers where the home ranks on an energy efficiency scale. Houston-based McGuyer Homebuilders earlier this month began providing customers with estimates of what the annual heating and cooling portion of their utility bills will be on homes in the company's Dallas market. If buyers end up paying more, McGuyer promises to reimburse them for the difference in the first two years.

    The strategy comes as homebuilders grapple with fierce competition from existing homes on the market, particularly sharply discounted foreclosed properties. Sales of new homes, which make up a fraction of overall home sales, sank last year to the lowest level since at least 1963. New homes, many bristling with energy-efficient features, often are priced at a premium to older homes. That can be a deal-breaker for buyers expecting to see bargain-priced properties as the housing downturn enters its fifth year.

    But builders are betting that breaking out utility bill savings in black and white will persuade buyers to consider a newly built home.

    "It's the biggest purchase decision that people are making at that time in their lives, and typically they have no idea what it's going to cost to truly own the thing until they've been there for several months," said Jeffrey Mezger, KB Home's president and CEO. "It's a cost of homeownership that hasn't been out there."

    The building industry has been good at explaining the technology inside a home and behind the walls, but not at clearly showing buyers how it all translates to lower utility bills, says Nate Kredich, vice president of residential market development at the U.S. Green Building Council. This new approach by KB and other builders is similar to what automakers have done for years with miles-per-gallon labels, and it's helped make fuel-efficient cars more popular.

    "The model is there," Kredich says, "but homes are significantly more complex than automobiles."

    KB's Energy Performance Guide draws its utility cost estimates from a home's ranking on the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index, which is regarded as an industry standard for calculating energy efficiency. The lower the score -- which also is displayed on the label -- the lower its projected energy costs.

    A typical new home will garner a score of 100 on the index, while Energy Star qualified homes will typically rank at about 85. Resale homes typically fare around 130 on the scale.

    What does that mean in terms of dollars and cents? The difference between a score of 80 and 130 could amount to seeing one's energy bill double, KB's Mezger says.

    A Department of Energy program that launched in 2009 has been issuing certificates to builders whose homes achieve a HERS score of 70 or less. The builders also get the right to display the department's EnergySmart Home Scale label. Like KB's, it features the home's HERS score and an estimated average monthly energy bill.

    The program has issued certificates on more some 5,500 homes, most of them newly built, said George James, the program's project manager.

    KB, which builds homes to order, said it will provide both an initial HERS ranking and energy bill estimate when a buyer selects the type of home they want to purchase. An independent energy rater then inspects the home once it's built, and the homebuyer will receive an updated estimate and HERS ranking.

    The HERS rankings and monthly energy bill estimates can vary among KB's homes, depending on size and the part of the country they're in.

    And just as with cars' fuel efficiency estimates, how a buyer uses a home can raise or lower the energy bill projections provided by KB. Leaving the lights on all day or setting a thermostat too high in the winter or too low in the summer will skew energy costs.

    For that reason KB doesn't guarantee any specific level of gas and electric utility costs, though it says the HERS rating it advertises to buyers will be exact.

  • Energy efficiency efforts gaining traction in Missouri

    16 Feb 2011 9:03 am
    BY JEFFREY TOMICH • jtomich@post-dispatch.com
    St Louis Post Dispatch | Posted: Friday, February 11, 2011

    Missouri has long been viewed as a laggard when it comes to energy conservation. Now, is the state ready to play catch-up?

    A recent study highlights plenty of opportunity to cut energy use. Rules finalized by regulators this week could help achieve that potential by giving utilities incentives to invest in promoting energy efficiency.

    A draft copy of the study by Burlington, Mass.-based KEMA indicates Missourians could save more than $5 billion in electric and natural gas costs over the next decade by fixing drafty houses, replacing old appliances with more efficient ones and taking other energy-saving measures.

    The Public Service Commission commissioned the study last fall. It represents the first statewide assessment of energy-savings potential and one of several indicators of the heightened importance placed on energy efficiency in the Show-Me state.

    The issue should be "one of our priorities in improving how we communicate with utility customers and as we plan for future energy needs," said PSC Commissioner Robert Clayton, who stepped down as commission chairman this week.

    It's yet unclear how such efforts will affect ratepayers in the long term. The new rules aim to compensate utilities, through rate adjustments, for investments in programs encouraging consumers to use less power. The hope is that companies can make the same profits while selling less energy and lowering consumer bills at the same time — no small challenge.

    Energy efficiency programs, commonplace on the coasts, are gaining traction in Missouri for good reason. While the state still boasts some of the nation's lowest electricity rates — thanks largely to a heavy dependence on cheap coal — they've been moving steadily higher. Ameren Missouri's electric rates have risen by more than $400 million since May 2007, and the utility is seeking an additional $263 million increase. What's more, discussions are under way about the potential for a second nuclear power plant in Callaway County.

    Utilities and regulators generally agree that saving a watt of electricity is often cheaper than generating one.

    Ameren, Laclede Gas Co. and other Missouri utilities long ago established energy efficiency programs that involved funding appliance rebates and discounting or giving away compact fluorescent light bulbs. The state likewise established a campaign to encourage energy savings.

    But those efforts have been slow to expand, in part because decades-old utility rate making policy includes a disincentive for utilities to take actions that reduced energy sales.

    According to American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, a group that rates states for energy-saving programs and policies, Missouri is 43rd in the nation last year and was passed by Arkansas and Louisiana. Illinois, by comparison, ranked 25th.

    Senate Bill 376, the Missouri Energy Efficiency Investment Act, which Gov. Jay Nixon signed in June 2009, is meant to jump-start efficiency programs in the state by allowing utilities to earn the same profit on a "cost-effective" efficiency investment as it would on a power plant or other capital investment.

    The PSC voted 4-1 on Wednesday to approve final rules needed to implement the law.

    "This is a new era of rate making and a new era of policy for the Public Service Commission," Clayton said.

    The next step will be implementing new or expanded efficiency programs at each utility. For that, regulators want to know which investments are most cost-effective, and what sort of payback or incentives are needed to compel consumers to buy energy-saving appliances, new windows or insulate their attics.

    The efficiency study is expected to serve as a guidepost during that process.

    "We wanted to have an independent assessment of what investor-owned utilities would be capable of achieving," Clayton said.

    The state's two largest utilities and a coalition of the state's largest electricity users have raised concerns about some of the data used in the KEMA study as well as its conclusions.

    Ameren, for instance, commissioned an exhaustive study of energy efficiency potential in its service area that was published in January 2010. That study showed sizable energy savings are achievable, but more modest than that suggested in the KEMA study.

    "We're very proud of the Ameren Missouri study," said Rick Voytas, manager of energy efficiency and demand response for the utility. "What we really invested in was public interest surveys to determine what really drives customers to invest in energy efficient alternatives."

    In written comments filed with the PSC, the utility was more blunt: "The KEMA study will do little, if anything, to move the optimal implementation of energy efficiency forward in Missouri. It may do the opposite."

    For all the debate and uncertainty, energy efficiency advocates remain encouraged.

    "I think Missouri is starting to turn the corner and embrace energy efficiency," said Chris Burnette, regulatory affairs coordinator for Renew Missouri, an offshoot of St. Louis-based Missouri Coalition for the Environment.

    The combination of new rules to promote efficiency and the implementation of the renewable energy standard approved by voters in 2008 can help defer or offset the need for new power plants in Missouri and create new jobs, he said. What's more, it could allow utilities to retire older, less efficient coal-fired plants.

    Said Burnette: "Any dirty coal plant that we can take offline is a win."


  • Missouri regulators approve energy efficiency rules

    13 Feb 2011 11:09 am
    Sunday, February 13, 2011

    The Associated Press
    ST. LOUIS -- Missouri regulators approved new rules last week that will give utility companies incentives to invest in promoting energy efficiency.
    The administrative rules were needed to implement a state law designed to boost energy efficiency programs in Missouri. The law, approved in 2009, allows utilities to earn the same profit on an efficiency investment as they do for investments into power plants or other capital, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday.

    The rules -- approved by a 4-1 vote earlier last week -- seek to compensate utilities for programs that encourage customers to use less power.

    Robert Clayton, who had been the commission's chairman until last week, said energy efficiency should be "one of our priorities in improving how we communicate with utility customers and as we plan for future energy needs."

    Missouri utilities have long-established energy efficiency programs, but those efforts have been slow to expand.

    A draft copy of a study commissioned by the Public Service Commission estimates that Missourians could save more than $5 billion in electric and natural gas costs over the next decade through efficiency steps such as fixing drafty houses and swapping out old appliances. Regulators commissioned the report last fall, and it was produced by Massachusetts-based KEMA.

    The energy analysis is expected to serve as a guide for steps to implement efficiency programs at each utility.

    However, a couple utilities and a coalition of large electricity users have raised concerns about the KEMA report and the data that was used.

    St. Louis-based Ameren Missouri published in January 2010 a study it commissioned that concluded there was potential for significant energy savings, but that it was less than what the KEMA report identified.

    "What we really invested in was public interest surveys to determine what really drives customers to invest in energy efficiency alternatives," said Rick Voytas, the manager of energy efficiency and demand response for the utility.

    In written comments to regulators, the utility said the KEMA study "will do little, if anything, to move the optimal implementation of energy efficiency forward in Missouri. It may do the opposite."


  • Obama to Announce Major Energy-Efficiency Initiative for Commercial Buildings

    3 Feb 2011 6:35 pm
    Feb 3rd, 2011 | By Editor | Category: Featured Content

    President Obama is expected to unveil later today a “Better Buildings Initiative” with a goal of making commercial buildings 20-percent more energy-efficient by 2020 by catalyzing private sector investment through a series of incentives to upgrade offices, stores, schools and other municipal buildings, universities, hospitals, and other commercial buildings.
    This new commercial component initiative builds on investments through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the proposed HOMESTAR legislation that encourages energy saving upgrades in homes.

    During a speech taking place this afternoon at Penn State University, the President is expected to propose to make American businesses more energy-efficient through a series of five new initiatives:

    • New tax incentives for building efficiency: The President is calling on Congress to redesign the current tax deduction for commercial building upgrades, changing the current deduction to a credit that is more generous and that will encourage building owners and real estate investment trusts to retrofit their properties. These changes could result in a ten-fold increase in commercial retrofit take up, leveraging job-creating investments.

    • More financing opportunities for commercial retrofits: To address gaps in access to financing, the Small Business Administration is working to encourage existing lenders to take advantage of recently increased loan size limits to promote new energy efficiency retrofit loans for small businesses. The President’s budget will also propose a new pilot program through the Department of Energy to guarantee loans for energy-efficiency upgrades at hospitals, schools and other commercial buildings.

    • “Race to Green” for state and municipal governments that streamline regulations and attract private investment for retrofit projects: The President’s budget will propose new competitive grants to states and/or local governments that streamline standards, encouraging upgrades and attracting private sector investment.

    • The Better Buildings Challenge: The President is challenging CEOs and university presidents to make their organizations leaders in saving energy, which will save them money and improve productivity. Partners will commit to a series of actions to make their facilities more efficient. They will in turn become eligible for benefits including public recognition, technical assistance and best-practices sharing through a network of peers.

    • Training the next generation of commercial building technology workers: Using existing authorities, the administration is working to implement a number of reforms, including improving transparency around energy efficiency performance, launching a Building Construction Technology Extension Partnership modeled on the Manufacturing Extension Partnership at Commerce and providing more workforce training in areas such as energy auditing and building operations.

    http://www.windowfilmmag.com/index.php/archives/1677

  • Illinois Lures Wind Farm Away from Missouri with Bold Energy Policy

    31 Jan 2011 3:18 pm
    Affinity Wind is building its first wind farm in Illinois, not home state Missouri, because of a wind-friendly RPS there — and it's not alone

    By Maria Gallucci Jan 28, 2011

    When St. Louis University (SLU) business professor Trey Goede and his students sought to turn their plan for a $250 million wind facility into reality, they headed to neighboring Illinois, where the wind is powerful and so is clean power demand.

    They aren't alone. Once known only for coal and nuclear, a robust renewable energy policy is making Illinois a magnet for commercial wind farm developers of all stripes.

    The SLU classroom project, which became Affinity Wind, LLC in 2007, will break ground this spring on the first 36 megawatts of a 150 megawatt-plan. The second phase is slated for 2012. The 75-turbine project in the state's western Pike County is on par with other utility-scale wind farms cropping up across the industrial Midwest.

    Goede, Affinity Wind's founder and CEO, said his decision to set up the facility out of state was fairly simple.

    "At the time, Illinois had a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), and Missouri did not," Goede told SolveClimate News. "Illinois has been the benefactor of a strong RPS."

    In its 2007 Illinois Power Agency Act, the state ordered utility companies to purchase 25 percent of energy from renewable sources in 2025, an aggressive rate compared with the 10 to 15 percent targets of neighboring states.

    Aggressive RPS, Transmission Lures Developers

    Particularly enticing to Goede, however, was that 18 percent of Illinois' 25 percent mandate must be from wind, a move that is spurring demand for the renewable resource.

    The state is already outperforming others in supply. While Illinois ranks 14 among states for potential wind capacity, it is sixth nationwide in installed wind power for 2010, with nearly 2,000 megawatts, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

    Unlike its windier and sparsely populated Midwest counterparts, such as North and South Dakota, high-voltage transmission lines already crisscross Illinois to service its vast energy industry, which counts more nuclear power plants than any other state and has the third-largest coal reserves nationwide.

    The lines are also closer to major cities like Chicago and could reach up to 50 million people in a dozen East Coast states on a shared electric grid run by PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization.

    "This is another reason why we're seeing Illinois move forward a lot faster" than other states in wind energy development, said Kevin Borgia, executive director of the Illinois Wind Energy Association, which is not affiliated with the national organization.

    Barry Matchett, a co-legislative director at the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, said that Illinois ranks among the top five states for both electricity production and consumption in the country, signaling a large market for renewable energy.

    "This is a big state to have an RPS in," he said.

    To Goede, the state's policies and well-developed infrastructure spelled opportunity for his students' business plan.

    Landowners, Utilities Eager for Wind's Arrival


    The project started as a field trip nearly four years ago, when the SLU professor began taking students on the one-and-a-half-hour drive to Pike County to meet with landowners, local utilities and farmers to learn what needed to be done to carry out a large-scale wind project.

    The first step was finding transmission lines there with enough space to carry power generated by a new wind farm.

    The next was garnering local support, which was relatively easy to achieve. Projects in more populated counties usually face opposition from residents concerned about wind turbines generating noise and blocking towns' potential expansion. But Pike County, a division of around 17,000 people spread over 500,000 acres, was eager for wind development to bring money to the area, said Blake Roderick of the Pike County Farm Bureau.


    "Everybody has been waiting with great anticipation for wind projects to get off the ground," he said.

    The county passed a zoning ordinance in 2006 to facilitate land use by wind developers. Unlike other counties, where conditional ordinances require a lengthy permit review process, Pike's permitted use ordinance means that developers meeting minimal requirements can breeze past the red tape. The farm bureau has worked closely with Goede to find landowners to lease their properties for wind turbines.

    Prairie Power Inc., a local electric generation and transmission cooperative, was the first to jump on board in Pike County. The co-op proposed building a $66 million, 20-turbine wind farm in 2008, but the project was put on hold because of the global economic downturn.

    That same year, the SLU initiative officially became Affinity Wind LLC, an independent, utility-scale wind energy developer. As the St. Louis-based firm collected $1.15 million in capital investments for its proposed Illinois wind farm, Prairie Power saw an opportunity to hand off to Goede the transmission lines and landowner lease agreements it had already secured.

    Wind Giant Suzlon Enters the Picture

    The biggest boost for the project, however, came on Jan. 14, when Goede announced that Affinity Wind entered into a joint venture agreement with Chicago-based Suzlon Wind Energy Corp., a subsidiary of Suzlon Energy Limited in Pune, India.

    Suzlon ranked third among the world's leading wind turbine suppliers in terms of market share in 2009, with 15,000 megawatts of installed wind energy capacity in 25 countries.

    "We felt this was a sound value investment that could offer a solid return, which we would expect to lead to new business opportunities for Suzlon," said Andy Cukurs, the subsidiary's CEO, in an email to SolveClimate News. "Due to the high load demand and favorable market conditions in Illinois, and particularly the Chicago area, this wind power plant makes for an interesting investment."

    In the 50-50 partnership, which is called Surity Wind, Suzlon will provide the 75 turbines plus additional financial backing, although Goede did not specify the amount. He said that the project was not receiving any federal or state incentives, but that Surity would apply for state investment tax credits, employee tax credits and possible property tax abatement in the next few years.

    The CEO expects the classroom-turned-real world enterprise to bring economic benefits to Pike County residents.

    Using the U.S. Department of Energy’s latest Jobs and Economic Development Impacts (JEDI) Wind Energy Model, Affinity Wind estimates that the wind farm could create some $44 million in local spending during construction and $3 million per year once completed. More than $1 million in annual property taxes and several hundred thousand dollars in lease payments to landowners could be generated, along with 600 new jobs.

    A 30-year forecast predicts more than $175 million for the county will come from direct spending and property tax assessment.

    10,000 Jobs, $3.2 Billion in Economic Benefits


    Since 2003, Illinois has leaped from 50 megawatts in wind farms to nearly 2,000 megawatts from 21 projects this year, with 85 percent coming online in 2007 and beyond.

    According to a June 2010 economic impact study by the Center for Renewable Energy at Illinois State University, wind farm development has created about 10,000 full-time jobs during construction periods and nearly 500 permanent jobs in rural Illinois, totaling $509 million and $25 million in payroll, respectively.



    Annual property taxes generate $18 million for local economies, while landowners see $8.3 million each year in extra income through leases to wind farm developers. Overall, the center expects the projects to generate $3.2 billion in economic benefits over the life of the projects.

    Borgia of the Illinois Wind Energy Association said the state could do even more.

    To meet RPS requirements, Illinois utility companies are mostly purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs) rather than actual electricity generated by wind farms. But to secure financing for projects, developers first need power-purchase agreements (PPAs), in which utilities or companies agree in advance to buy electricity once the wind farm operates.

    "Illinois has been held back a little bit by relying too much on tradable RECs," he said, noting that bundled power agreements – a mix of RECs and PPAs – have met with success. Bundled procurements last year ushered in the 200-megawatt Bishop Hill Wind Energy Center by Invenergy Wind and the 106.5-megawatt Shady Oaks wind farm from China's Goldwind Science and Technology Company. and Ireland-based Mainstream Renewable Power.

    http://solveclimatenews.com/news/20110128/illinois-lures-wind-farm-away-missouri-bold-energy-policy


  • Congratulations to MO-DNR for receiving Inspiring Efficiency Award!

    16 Jan 2011 11:14 am
    Midwest Energy Efficiency Leaders Recognized for Groundbreaking Achievements

    The eight winners of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s (MEEA) 2011 Inspiring Efficiency Awards are industry leaders who have delivered innovative advancements in energy efficiency. Projects range from an eBay-like online reverse auction for energy efficiency grants to a program that helped Detroit’s small, independent grocers reduce their energy costs while improving access to fresh produce for the city’s residents.

    This year’s winners were honored at the Inspiring Efficiency Awards Dinner and Gala on Thursday, January 13, 2011, during MEEA’s ninth annual Midwest Energy Solutions Conference (www.meeaconference.org). The three-day conference, which ran at the InterContinental Chicago, this year was the largest of its kind in the Midwest. It brings together a broad range of private- and public-sector thought leaders in energy strategy, policy, technology and program design and implementation.

    The Inspiring Efficiency Awards competition recognizes Midwest energy efficiency leaders in five categories: Leadership, Education, Impact, Innovation and Marketing. The Inspiring Efficiency Chairman’s Award is also bestowed each year to a person who has exhibited exemplary leadership for energy efficiency in the Midwest and support of MEEA.

    Award recipients for 2011 included:

    * Chairman’s Award: The Weidt Group Principal David Eijadi, for his leadership and outstanding commitment to the growth of MEEA and the advancement of energy efficiency in the Midwest. David is a former Chair of MEEA’s Board of Directors and has been instrumental in guiding MEEA through substantial growth over the last eight years.

    * Leadership Award: Michigan Public Service Commissioner Monica Martinez, for driving the passage of Michigan’s Clean, Renewable and Efficient Energy Act, spearheading statewide asymmetrical decoupling efforts and expanding Michigan’s Low Income and Energy Efficient Fund.

    * Education Award: The Energy Center of Wisconsin, for pioneering the use of rich media to connect participants to online energy efficiency education programs, breaking through traditional training barriers such as cost, time and travel.

    * Impact Award: Commonwealth Edison, for its retro-commissioning program, which reduces energy consumption in large buildings and systems in a cost-effective manner by optimizing use of existing equipment rather than encouraging capital investment. Through the program’s first two years, nearly 9 million Kilowatt hours were saved through the participation of 17 facilities.

    * Innovation Awards:

    o DTE Energy, for its successful Independent Grocers Incentive Program, which helped independent grocers reduce their energy costs while also improving access to fresh produce for Detroit residents.

    o Missouri Department of Natural Resources, for its Best Price Energy Efficiency Program, which used a first-of-its-kind live online reverse auction to award $3 million in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act-funded energy efficiency grants to businesses.

    * Marketing Awards:

    o Prairie Power, Inc., for its innovative energy efficiency display that engages homeowners by identifying low-cost actions they can take to reduce their energy costs.

    o Xcel Energy, for its Process Efficiency program, which provides holistic energy efficiency solutions to its large industrial customers and has generated more than 95 Gigawatt hours of electric savings and 150,000 Dekatherms of natural gas savings since its launch in 2007.


  • Energy Efficiency Stocks Favored by Analysts for 2011

    9 Jan 2011 1:37 pm

    Written by Jess McCabe
    Sunday, 09 January 2011 16:20

    Analysts and investors predict last year’s gloom for clean-tech stocks will continue in 2011, with few expectations that renewable energy share prices will recover – but energy efficiency is once again tipped to outperform.

    Clean-tech stocks were hit hard in 2010. The WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index (NEX), tracking 100 listed global clean energy companies, dropped 14.6% last year, while the US S&P 500 rose 12.8%.

    Broken down by sector, the NEX was brought down by renewable power companies – even though total investment in capacity held up compared to 2009, according to index-provider Bloomberg New Energy Finance. On average, wind firms saw their share prices drop 37%, while solar firms dropped 26%. By contrast, energy efficiency stocks rose on average 19.5%.

    A similar trend is expected this year, with energy efficiency firms in areas such as the smart grid and LED lighting providing a spark of optimism, while analysts and investors are not getting their hopes up for the solar and wind sectors.

    Sarbjit Nahal, socially responsible investment and sustainability analyst at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research in London, cautioned: “We certainly do think that time is on clean-tech’s side and it is tempting to be contrarian, [but] substantial stock outperformance in 2011 appears unlikely with our clean-tech team reiterating a bearish view.”

    “Energy efficiency makes sense in mature economies. Efficiency remains the low-hanging fruit and is supported by more states requiring energy savings. Smart grid, demand response and LED vendors should benefit, including EnerNOC and Itron. Cloud computing also offers revenue opportunities of around $100 billion,” he added.

    Energy efficiency has been “by far the most positive sector”, agreed Lee Clements, an investment manager at London-based Impax Asset Management. “That for us has been where we have been overweight.” Energy efficiency has gone “under the radar” compared to other headline-grabbing clean-tech areas such as solar and wind, he noted, citing LED street lighting and companies supplying energy efficiency equipment to industry as areas of interest.

    Meanwhile, investor worries about policy uncertainty and a slower recovery in the global economy are likely to continue to weigh down the share prices of renewable energy firms, according to analysts. Last year’s spectre of retroactive cuts to solar subsidies in Spain will continue to haunt investor attitudes to the sector, while fears are growing of deeper cuts in Germany, noted Matthais Fawer-Wasser, an analyst at Switzerland’s Bank Sarasin. Meanwhile, the swing towards a Republican House of Representatives in the US is also seen as a concern for policy support for clean energy by investors and analysts.

    “Renewable energy saw a really tough 2010 [and] has maybe hit the bottom, but we can’t see, except in a few cases, a very clear area for recovery,” said Clements at Impax. “Within Europe we continue to see quite negative regulatory constraints.”

    Impax is focused on wind-farm operators, when it comes to the renewable energy space, said Clements, who should benefit from a recovery in the economy driving power demand. However, suppliers of equipment such as turbines and solar panels would require stronger economic growth to prosper, he said.

    “Optimistic people say this could be the turning point,” Fawer-Wasser said, but the concerns that caused last year’s share price falls have not gone away. “Especially for the first two to three months [of the year] we’d rather stay away from these stocks,” he added.

    Emerging markets, particularly China, led renewables growth in 2010, and analysts expect a repeat performance this year. China’s 12th Five Year Plan is due out in March and is widely expected to boost the country’s renewable energy ambitions.

    Nick Robins, head of the climate change centre of excellence at HSBC in London, pointed to the Chinese government’s signals that low-carbon growth is “part of the economic future of the country”, not just an environmental policy.

    Evan Li, Hong Kong-based head of renewable energy and environmental finance equity research at Standard Chartered, told Environmental Finance: “We believe China and Asia [will] lead the way. Nowhere in the world, except for China, could provide easy financing (20:80 equity-debt financing) under current economic conditions, for companies with questionable balance sheets.

    “Leveraging on low manufacturing cost, a low base in renewable energy demand, sufficient capital sources and improving technology transfers from overseas, we believe clean and renewable energy companies in Asia should outperform their global peers.”

    Outside of renewables (particularly wind), Standard Chartered is tipping water and solid waste treatment as sectors overlooked by the market. Li said: “Strong government incentive programs on environmental protection should introduce new growth opportunities. We like China Everbright International, Beijing Enterprises Water, Sound Global and China Water Affairs.”

    By. Jess McCabe

    Source: Environmental Finance


  • States Have Now Adopted Energy Efficiency Resource Standards

    29 Dec 2010 11:18 am
    States Have Now Adopted Energy Efficiency Resource Standards


    NEWS RELEASE

    Contact: Max Neubauer, 202-507-4005

    Dan York, 608-243-1123

    Reaching the Tipping Point:
    Majority of States Have Now Adopted Energy Efficiency Resource Standards

    Washington, D.C. (December 21, 2010): While the prospect of passing a comprehensive national energy policy remains uncertain for the 112th Congress, two states reminded the country last week that bold energy efficiency policies, which will save consumers and businesses millions in wasted energy costs, can win bipartisan support.

    On December 10, Arkansas became the first state in the Southeast to adopt a comprehensive set of policies on utility energy efficiency programs, including an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS). Four days later in Wisconsin, the Joint Committee on Finance approved recommendations set in an Order given by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) to increase funding to Focus on Energy, the statewide energy efficiency provider, and set performance goals that will function as an EERS. An EERS requires electricity and natural gas providers to meet annual energy savings goals by providing energy efficiency program services.

    ACEEE Executive Director Steven Nadel commended the states’ efforts: "The actions taken in Arkansas and Wisconsin should signal to policymakers at the state and federal level that moderate and even conservative constituencies can rally behind the cause of creating an energy-efficient economy. Energy efficiency is an abundant resource that reduces waste across all sectors and improves economic productivity."

    Max Neubauer, ACEEE Research Associate, authored an energy efficiency potential study for Arkansas early in 2010 that recommended the adoption of an EERS and was pleased with the result. He said: "The orders given by the Arkansas Public Service Commission signify a break from the commonly voiced doctrine in the Southeast that any expense on utility bills is a bane of business and economic growth. In fact, it is quite the opposite with regards to energy efficiency. It costs far less to save a kWh than to generate one, so energy efficiency encourages economic growth by creating a robust, sustainable energy market that offers new business opportunities, generates jobs, saves consumers money, and curbs the strain on our environment."

    The Arkansas targets are moderate, rising from an annual reduction of 0.25% of total electric kilowatt-hour (kWh) sales to 0.75% of total electric kWh sales over the next three years (and slightly less for natural gas sales), but require a high level of verification to ensure that utility companies are fairly rewarded, and that consumers get solid cost benefits.

    The Wisconsin electricity goals, as a percent of peak load and electric sales, amount to 0.75% in 2011, ramping up to 1.5% in 2014. The PSCW also approved natural gas goals of 0.5% in 2011, ramping up to 1% in 2013.

    Twenty-six states now have an EERS, accounting for 65% of the country’s electricity demand. The policies currently on the books will provide electricity savings equal to 6% of nationwide retail sales by 2020. Dan York, Deputy Director, ACEEE Utilities Program, explained further: "The EERS will ensure that Wisconsin continues to reap the significant cost savings that result from investments in more energy-efficient homes, businesses, and industries." A native Wisconsinite, he was glad to see his home state adopt such a strong policy. "For years, Wisconsin has been a leader in its energy efficiency programs serving electric and natural gas customers. This policy demonstrates Wisconsin’s strong commitment and vision to invest in energy efficiency-a resource that lowers energy costs, creates local jobs, and improves the environment. It’s a big win for Wisconsin."

    Link to summary of AR decision: http://www.apscservices.info/pdf/08/08-144-U_153_1.pdf

    Link to Wisconsin EERS Order: http://www.aceee.org/files/state/WI_5-GF-191_Order.pdf

    ###

    About ACEEE: The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting economic prosperity, energy security, and environmental protection. For information about ACEEE and its programs, publications, and conferences, visit aceee.org.

  • Energize Missouri Homes Homeowner Upgrades and Geothermal Program

    6 Dec 2010 10:29 am
    Energize Missouri Homes Homeowner Upgrades and Geothermal Program

    Monday, November 15, 2010

    The Missouri Department of Natural Resources today announced it has selected six organizations for grant awards totaling $7.75 million for the Energize Missouri Homes - Homeowner Upgrades and Geothermal Program.
    Jefferson City, MO - infoZine - The department has made Energize Missouri Homes grants available through funding received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The organizations will provide program services to homeowners in defined regions of the state. Interested homeowners may identify their local organization and contact them directly to learn more about the program or may visit the department’s website.

    Through the Energize Missouri Homes - Homeowner Upgrades and Geothermal Program, these six organizations will assist more than 1,200 Missouri homeowners with funding for energy audits and energy efficiency upgrades such as weather stripping, insulation, efficient heating and cooling systems and installing geothermal systems.

    A Springfield resident received free weatherization services from the Energize Missouri Homes initiative through the Ozarks Area Community Action Corp. Photo courtesy of Missouri Department of Natural Resources“Making a home more energy-efficient can lower energy bills, improve the comfort of a home and help protect the environment,” said Kip Stetzler, Acting Director of the Department of Natural Resources. “These energy-saving home improvements have the potential to save families hundreds of dollars a year on their utility bill and increase their property’s value. This program will help Missouri homeowners realize measurable energy savings.”

    The organizational grant recipients include:

    Boonslick Regional Planning Commission will receive a grant award of $600,000 to provide program services for the central eastern region of the state encompassing 11 counties.

    Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission will receive a grant award of $1.6 million to provide program services for the central western region of the state encompassing 16 counties.

    Meramec Regional Planning Commission will receive a grant award of $800,000 to provide program services for the central eastern region of the state encompassing 16 counties.

    Metropolitan Energy Center will receive a grant award of $1.75 million to provide program services for a 48-county region encompassing much of the western and northern parts of the state.

    Missouri Botanical Gardens will receive a grant award of $1.75 million to provide program services for the City of St. Louis and an 18 county region encompassing much of the eastern and southern parts of the state.

    White River Valley Electric Cooperative will receive a grant award of $1.25 million to provide program services to Ozark, Taney, Douglas, Stone and Christian counties, comprising the cooperative’s service territory.

    The department received project applications for the Energize Missouri Homes - omeowner Upgrades and Geothermal Program through a competitive application process. Grant recipients have until January 2012 to complete their projects.

    The department is administering more than $200 million in Recovery Act funding to support Energize Missouri projects to create jobs and improve energy efficiencies and renewable energy for Missouri. The department is committed to working closely with the selected organizations to assist with funding efforts that support energy efficiency projects as well as provide financial savings.

    Related infoZine Geothermal Article
    University of Kansas Geologists Launch $4.2 Million Geothermal Project

    Related Energize Missouri Link
    www.EnergizeMissouri.org

  • Energy efficiency: Biden announces new federal program

    12 Nov 2010 10:13 am
    Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a new federal program to make it easier for Americans to make their homes more energy efficient, saying it will help people save money and create new jobs for contractors.

    The three-step program, called Recovery Through Retrofit, will offer new software for contractors to easily show people how much they can save, offer low-cost financing to help people pay for home improvements and set new guidelines for contractors to assure the public the work is done right.

    Biden, who announced the plan at the White House, said that it will give families "the tools they need to invest in home energy upgrades. Together, these programs will grow the home retrofit industry and help middle-class families save money and energy."

    The Obama administration didn't immediately release estimates of either the costs of the program or how many jobs it could create.

    The Home Energy Score Program will provide new software that will produce a score of 1 to 10 in a graphic that will compare the efficiency of someone's home compared to other homes in the same area and climate.

    It will offer an estimate of how much money could be saved with energy retrofits, a list of recommended improvements and an estimate of annual savings.

    White House aides said the availability of simple, trustworthy information should help more people invest in making their homes more energy efficient.

    "Most consumers do not have access to straightforward and reliable information about their home's energy use," said a White House information sheet. "Without this information, homeowners are less likely to invest in home energy upgrades."

    The software will be offered to trained and certified contractors to use during a one-hour walkthrough of people's homes.

    "The Home Energy Score will help make energy efficiency easy and accessible to America's families by providing them with straightforward and reliable information about their homes' energy performance and specific, cost-effective energy efficiency improvements that will save them money on their monthly energy bills," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

    To help people pay for the work, the administration will unveil the PowerSaver loan program, which will offer low-rate loans that could be repaid over periods as long as 20 years.

    "PowerSaver will help more homeowners afford common sense, cost saving improvements to their homes, and will create jobs for contractors, installers and energy auditors across the country," said Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

  • Officials vote to upgrade building energy efficiency codes

    3 Nov 2010 12:21 pm
    By James Cartledge

    The 2012 IECC encourages a "whole building" approach to energy efficiency in construction
    Building officials from across the country have voted for a series of new building energy codes that should help to improve energy efficiency in new buildings by 30%.

    The vote came at the Final Action Hearings for the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday.

    The Code was based on proposals from the US Department of Energy, amended by the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC) and other stakeholder proposals.

    More than 60 governmental members of the International Code Council took part in the hearings in Charlotte, but to take effect the 2012 IECC must now be implemented by states and local governments.

    EECC Executive Director William Fay said: “Reducing wasted energy from the nation’s largest single user – our homes and commercial buildings, which consume nearly half of our energy – was the byword of the nearly 500 state and local government representatives who spent five days of rigorous hearings to evaluate and pass judgment on hundreds of proposals to improve (or weaken) the IECC’s residential and commercial chapters.

    “The ICC is to be congratulated for the tremendous efforts of its members to finish this code and achieve substantial energy efficiency.”

    Code
    The 2012 IECC encourages a “whole building” approach to efficiency in the construction of new homes and commercial buildings.

    The code would ensure that new homes are better sealed to cut heating and cooling losses, boost the efficiency of windows and skylights, increase insulation in ceilings, walls and foundations, as well as in lighting systems.

    Wasted energy would also be minimized through well sealed heating and cooling ducts and in the design of hot water distribution systems.

    Designers of commercial buildings would have the choice of three further options to boost energy efficiency – generating renewable energy, using more efficient heating and ventilation equipment or more efficient lighting systems.

    Savings
    The Washington DC-based nonprofit Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), which has been working with the EECC to promote the adoption of the new code proposals, said the 2012 IECC would benefit American consumers by $10.2 billion each year in energy savings.

    The IMT said every dollar spend complying with the code would provide six dollars in energy savings.

    Cliff Majersik, Executive Director of IMT, said the vote in favor of the 2012 IECC was a “big deal” for energy efficiency efforts.

    Mr Majersik said: “Most new buildings are built to the code – no better and no worse. These changes to the model energy code will slash pollution from power plants and furnaces while saving Americans billions of dollars in energy bills.”


  • Louisiana Accounts for Energy Efficiency in Home Price

    27 Oct 2010 9:22 pm
    Anyone who has bought or sold a house has been involved in an appraisal process. Usually the price that is returned is based on comparable size homes, prices of homes in the area, and what the market currently will bear. As a builder, this has always frustrated me because it seemed that all that mattered was how big the box was, how many bedrooms were in the box, and where it was, but it was still a box. Shouldn’t weight be given to how well the box is constructed? Well, one state is thinking about it. The Louisiana legislature has recently passed Senate Bill 648, which adds a mere three words to the guidelines for real estate appraisers. It isn’t the number of words being added that is important, but what they mean. When appraising the value of a house a professional needs to take into account different aspects of the home, “including energy efficiency.” There are no specific requirements on how they are supposed to assess the benefits of various energy improvements, but it seems clear to someone in the field of energy efficiency that energy modeling, and possibly residential energy labeling, would be of great use in this situation. You can access a copy of Louisiana Senate Bill 648 here.

  • Join us at Greening Midwest Communities, Oct. 19-20, Jeff City

    18 Oct 2010 1:51 pm
    Greening Midwest Communities, Oct. 19-20, 2010, Jeff City

    MAAEP will conduct a session on "Energy Policy, Legislation and Incentives for New and Exisitng Homes" on Oct. 20th from 1pm-2:15pm at the Greening Midwest Communities conference.

    Greening Midwest Communities
    October 19-20, 2010 | Capitol Plaza Hotel | Jefferson City, MO

    Registration is NOW open!
    Early Registration Rates Available for a Limited Time!

    Please visit the website at
    http://muconf.missouri.edu/gmcc

    Join us for an unparalleled opportunity to collaborate and learn with building, development, and storm water professionals across the Midwest. This 2-day conference brings together industry, municipal, county, code and agency professionals working in many aspects of community development and energy-efficient “green” home building and remodeling. University of Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers (SBTDC) Program will be onsite to engage interested attendees in the services offered by this statewide network of business development assistance.

    Learn:
    ~ what it means to “build green”

    ~ how developing, building and remodeling green can sustain and grow the home building and community development industries

    ~ where to go to find the latest in storm water and national water quality regulations and the tools to help your business comply

    ~ why developing, building and remodeling green can offer increased market share AND financial benefits to your business

    ~ who your next buyer is likely to be

    Lodging:

    A block of rooms is being held at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City, Missouri. Conference participants are responsible for making their own room reservations by calling Capitol Plaza Hotel. To make reservations call (800) 338-8088 or local (573) 635-1234. Reservations are guaranteed if made by September 18, 2010, then on a space-available basis until the conference date. The special conference room rate will be $79 plus tax per night, and up to four may share a room. Be sure to identify yourself as a participant in the Greening Midwest Communities Conference.

    Expo Space Available!
    Take advantage of this opportunity to reach out to home building and remodeling, development, and storm water professionals from throughout the Midwest.

    Join us and reserve your space today!

    Sponsored by:
    University of Missouri Center for Sustainable Energy & Missouri HBA(s).

  • Study shows energy divide in the United States

    18 Oct 2010 1:49 pm
    The Southeastern and Great Plains states are way behind most West Coast and Northeastern states when it comes to being energy efficient.

    ENERGY DIVIDE: The United States is divided politically, but the same is true when it comes to energy efficiency. (Image: The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy)

    Southern states are lagging behind the rest of the country when it comes to energy efficiency, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

    The ACEEE ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia according to utilities' efficiency programs, transportation, state initiatives, building codes and appliance efficiency. The results, which can be seen clearly in this cool map, reveal a distinct divide on energy efficiency is the country.

    The divide is largely a geographic one. The South and the much of the Great Plains states fared particularly worse than the West Coast states and the Northeastern states. All but one Southeastern state, North Carolina, was ranked in the bottom half. Mississippi was ranked fiftieth. The Great Plains states didn’t fare any better, as North Dakota was ranked dead last at 51. Wyoming (which is more of a Rocky Mountain state that a Great Plains state) Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma all ranked just a bit better than North Dakota.

    But let’s not just focus on the negatives. California leads the nation in this ranking, followed by Massachusetts. Oregon, New York, Vermont, and Washington rounded out the top six. But not all the highly ranked states have access to the ocean. Perhaps the most interesting part of this ranking is the area that includes Nevada, Colorado, Utah and Arizona, who all ranked between 10-20.

    Now, of course, this is just one organization’s view of energy efficiency, but it is certainly worth some thought. Over the next few weeks most will be characterizing states as either red or blue, but it’s important to consider how green they are as well.

    Click Here for article by Andrew Schenkel on ACEEE study on energy divide:

    http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/energy/blogs/study-shows-energy-divide-in-the-united-states

  • NRDC Sues Federal Housing Regulators for Blocking Affordable Clean Energy Projects for Homeowners

    7 Oct 2010 5:39 pm
    NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 6, 2010) – Federal housing regulators must stop obstructing programs that make energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy projects affordable for American homeowners, according to a lawsuit filed today by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

    “Federal housing regulators are standing in the way of programs that make clean energy projects affordable for homeowners and lower electricity bills,” said Katherine Kennedy, Energy Counsel at NRDC. “It defies common sense that the federal government is blocking programs that could create jobs, jumpstart our economy, put money in homeowners’ pockets, and fight climate change at the same time. Instead of shutting them down, the federal government should help these programs grow.”

    NRDC filed the lawsuit in federal district court in the Southern District of New York against the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates government sponsored mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks. The agencies have halted clean energy financing programs—called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs— that are already off the ground in California, Colorado and New York, and have been adopted in 20 other states and the District of Columbia.

    With PACE programs, the upfront costs of property owners’ clean energy projects are financed by municipalities. Homeowners then pay off the projects as an incremental charge on their property taxes over an extended period of up to 20 years – with the savings on their energy bills often exceeding the costs of the payments from the start. The program is entirely voluntary and easily transferable to the next property owner if the current resident decides to move. It can be used to fund anything from small-scale renewable energy systems, like solar panels, to energy efficiency upgrades, like better windows, insulation, or heating and cooling systems.

    The Obama Administration has supported PACE programs in the past, with the Department of Energy awarding more than $150 million in federal stimulus funds to support them last year. But federal housing regulators have since halted the programs nationwide through a backdoor administrative action. In July, FHFA and OCC issued statements to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the national banks that effectively halted PACE efficiency programs nationwide. The result has been a freeze on nearly all existing and planned PACE programs, leaving millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds in question, and thousands of jobs implementing the projects in limbo, in addition to putting climate change goals and economic development plans across the country on hold.

    NRDC is suing the agencies for halting the programs without justification, and for doing so without following the proper protocol as required by law. This includes failing to conduct a review of the environmental impacts and to provide the public an opportunity to comment before taking this action.

    “Financing is a key barrier for property owners who are interested in lowering their bills with clean energy improvements,” said Greg Hale, Senior Finance Specialist at NRDC’s Center for Market Innovation. “PACE programs provide a unique solution – allowing them to overcome this roadblock without relying on public dollars, and with virtually no risk to existing lenders. In fact, with PACE programs, clean energy improvements can reduce the risk of mortgage default by lowering energy bills and increasing property values.”

    In California, Attorney General Jerry Brown, Sonoma County, the City of Palm Desert and the Sierra Club have filed similar federal lawsuits. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and U.S. Representative Mike Thompson have also introduced federal legislation that would require the federal government to allow states and localities to move forward with PACE programs.

    New York State is one of the 23 states that have enacted PACE legislation, and the state received $40 million of the DOE’s stimulus funds for PACE energy efficiency programs. In New York, at least 24 communities and three counties have implemented or are considering PACE programs, including New York City, Babylon, Bedford, Binghamton, Ithaca, Nassau County, Albany County and Tompkins County.

    The full complaint can be found online here: http://docs.nrdc.org/energy/files/ene_10100601a.pdf.

  • Driving Demand for Home Energy Improvements

    6 Oct 2010 11:21 am
    New Comprehensive Report on Driving Demand for Residential EE

    The LBNL Energy Analysis Department's work on driving demand for home energy efficiency improvements explores strategies that can be used to increase the adoption of comprehensive home energy upgrades. Because there is no single solution for how to drive demand, and many communities are learning more about what works right now, we've created this webpage and the email lists noted below to share resources as they are developed. Please let us know if you have resources you want to share, or questions about our work by emailing us.

    Driving Demand for Home Energy Improvements
    Fuller, M., C. Kunkel, M. Zimring, I. Hoffman, K.L. Soroye, and C. Goldman. LBNL-3960E. September 2010

    Download Page:

    http://eetd.lbl.gov/EAP/EMP/emp-pubsall.html


  • MAAEP Energy & Building Codes Seminar, Thurs., Sept. 30, 2010, Jeff City

    23 Sep 2010 3:54 pm
    MAAEP will be conducting a FREE energy and building codes training seminar with a nationally recognized builder/developer on Sept. 30th at Premier Bank in Jefferson City.

    WHEN: September 30, 3:30pm to 6pm

    WHERE: Premier Bank's Lower Level Conference Facility (310 Ellis Boulevard, Jefferson City, MO 65101)

    On Thursday, September 30, you have an opportunity to learn more about changes and updates to energy and building codes from one of the nation's top experts -- Matt Belcher, Belcher Homes.

    Belcher will provide a more in-depth overview of updates to the IECC as well as sharing details about changes to the 2009 IRC. Prepare for the future by taking advantage of this free educational opportunity. Special thanks and recognition go to Cammy Watkins and the Sierra Club's efforts towards promoting energy conservation through Sierra Club's energy codes program.

    As a technical partner with the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP), the University of Missouri’s Center for Sustainable Energy and MU’s Stormwater and Erosion Control Management Education Center, Mr. Belcher educates building industry professionals and governmental administrators on International Building, Mechanical and Energy Conservation Code structure, methodology and application and promoting building practices shown to create homes and developments that are safer, cleaner, more energy-efficient and better for the environment.

    As an Energy Star Partner, Mr. Belcher has built homes that provide proven performance through review and testing. Mr. Belcher is also a partner in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program and its new Builder’s Challenge Program where homes demonstrate construction that is at least 30% above current International Energy Conservation Codes.

    Mr. Belcher serves on the National Association of Homebuilders Board of Directors and NAHB’s Energy and Green Building and Building Codes and Standards sub-committees where he advises on incorporating sustainability into International Building and Energy Conservation Codes. He also serves on NAHB’s Policy Oversight Group for the forthcoming International Green Construction Code (IGCC).

  • Free Download of 2009 IECC Energy Code Available

    23 Sep 2010 11:10 am
    Free Download of Energy Code Available
    ICC Awarded Federal Funding to Provide
    2009 International Energy Conservation Code

    The code is available at www.iccsafe.org/FreeIECC

    Free digital copies of the International Council’s 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) are now available thanks to funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The funding is part of DOE’s initiative to meet nationwide energy-efficiency goals through its Building Technologies Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The download of the IECC is available at: www.iccsafe.org/FreeIECC.

    The 2009 IECC will produce approximately 15 percent in residential energy efficiency gains compared to the 2006 edition, according to DOE. The goals of initiatives like these are homes and commercial buildings, including schools and hospitals that consume less energy and help the environment by reducing emissions and their collective carbon footprint.

    The national model energy code of choice for states, cities and counties that adopt codes, the IECC is referenced in federal law determined by Congress through the Energy Policy Act of 1992. It is the only energy code that serves as the basis for federal tax credits for energy-efficient homes, energy efficiency standards for federal residential buildings and manufactured housing, and state residential energy code determinations. The 2009 IECC is the target building energy code that all 50 Governors agreed to achieve compliance with under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

    In response to the 1973 energy crisis, model energy codes were first developed to address the design of energy-efficient buildings and the installation of energy efficient mechanical, lighting and power-systems. In 1976, the Council’s legacy groups developed the Model Code for Energy Conservation in New Building Construction, which became the foundation for the IECC, first published in 1998.

    The Council—along with the American Institute of Architects (AIA), ASTM International, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES)—also developed the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) Public Version 2.0 to regulate construction of new and existing commercial buildings. The IGCC includes ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1 as an alternative compliance requirement.

    The International Code Council, a membership association dedicated to building safety, fire prevention and energy efficiency, develops the codes used to construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes and schools. Most U.S. cities, counties and states choose the International Codes, building safety codes developed by the International Code Council. The International Codes also serve as the basis for construction of federal properties around the world, and as a reference for many nations outside the United States.
    ###

  • EPA Launches Green Power Community Challenge Nationwide

    22 Sep 2010 3:43 pm
    Local governments expand use of green power

    WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is kicking off its national “Green Power Community Challenge,” a year-long campaign to encourage cities, towns, villages, and Native American tribes to use renewable energy and fight climate change. Purchases of green power help to prevent greenhouse gas emissions and also help accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity across the United States.

    To participate in the challenge, a local government must join EPA’s Green Power Partnership and use green power in amounts that meet the program’s purchase requirements. The local government must also conduct a campaign to encourage local businesses and residents to collectively buy or produce green power on-site in amounts that meet EPA requirements.

    More than 30 cities and towns in Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin have become green power communities, and are collectively buying more than 900 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) from the electricity use of nearly 80,000 average American homes.

    The campaign is designed to expand upon the successes of the program, aiming to double the total aggregate amount of green power used by EPA Green Power Communities. As part of the national campaign, communities will compete to see which one can use the most green power and which one can achieve the highest green power percentage of total electricity use. There will be a separate award for each category with national recognition and special attention from EPA. The winners will be announced in September 2011.

    During the challenge, from Sept. 20, 2010, to Sept. 1, 2011, communities will be ranked for the two award categories on EPA’s website on a quar¬terly schedule; EPA will also provide technical assistance to help participants increase their green power usage.

    Green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, and low-impact hydropower. Green power resources produce electricity with an environmental profile superior to conven¬tional power technologies, and produce no net increase of greenhouse gas emissions.

    More information on EPA’s Green Power Community Challenge: http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/gpcchallenge

    More information about EPA’s Green Power Communities:
    http://epa.gov/greenpower/communities/index.htm



  • NAHB Research Center Working With DOE to Improve Residential Energy Efficiency

    9 Aug 2010 5:54 pm
    The NAHB Research Center has been chosen as one of 15 national research and deployment partners that will be working with the Department of Energy's Building America program to support efforts by the agency to increase the energy efficiency of new and existing homes.

    To participate in this undertaking, the Research Center has created its Industry Partnership for High Performing Homes, which is a team of 76 key stakeholders that includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Products Laboratory, the Southface Energy Institute in Atlanta, trade associations, non-profits, state energy offices, builders, remodelers and manufacturers.

    The Research Center will be competing for DOE award grants of between $500,000 and $2.5 million for projects over the next four-and-a-half years that are designed to make the nation’s housing stock more energy-efficient through cost-effective new technologies, streamlined building processes and other means.

    The Research Center’s Industry Partnership has proposed:

    ■ A study of business models for performing energy-efficient remodeling on a larger scale. The project team will look at quality management control issues and how to successfully replicate certain tasks.

    “This takes energy-efficient remodeling beyond air sealing and insulation,” said Amber Wood, the partnership’s program manager for energy efficiency.

    One community demonstration project will be Greenbelt Homes, Inc., a housing cooperative in Greenbelt, Md., where 1,600 homes built in the 1930s and remodeled in the 1970s will again be renovated to improve their energy efficiency.


    ■ A look at the relationship between additional insulation and moisture management. “We want to look at the structural and energy performance of walls with high R-values and address moisture management as well as durability,” which can eventually affect indoor environmental quality, Wood said.


    ■ An exploration of the benefits of thermal mass. Using a group of homes in the Southwest, the Research Center will examine how to take advantage of the thermal mass of the home to operate heating and air conditioning systems more efficiently.


    ■ A study of new and existing homes with a variety of builders and remodelers to find climate-specific and cost-effective solutions for energy efficiency.
    The NAHB Research Center is working closely with production and custom builders and remodelers, including K Hovnanian, Winchester Homes, CASE Design/Remodeling and Belcher Homes; NAHB National Green Building Award winners Mithūn and Ferrier Custom Homes; and NAHB Remodelers Chair Donna Shirey.

    The NAHB Remodelers, Construction, Codes and Standards Energy Subcommittee, Construction Technology Research Subcommittee and Building Systems Councils are also among those who will be working with the Research Center as it moves forward on this project.

    Selling Points for Energy Efficiency

    At the association’s spring board meeting in April, an NAHB task force reported how retrofitting homes for energy-efficiency could be furthered by training programs for contractors and by incentives for home owners, such as the cash rebates of up to $8,000 proposed in the “cash for caulkers” legislation that has been moving through Congress.

    “The opportunities are huge,” said Bill Owens, an Ohio remodeler who served on the task force and is also working with the NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership.

    But beyond incentive programs, remodelers need to know how to market their services — and convince home buyers that the return on investment from better air sealing is more important than a new granite countertop. That’s a hard sell, Owens said. “It’s still one client at a time,” he said.

    “We’re trying to get people to be cognizant of their monthly utility payments and balance that with the idea that no matter what, we know that energy costs are going to increase,” even if last summer’s $4 per-gallon-gas prices are merely a distant memory, he said. “With the high costs of construction, people are much more interested in aesthetics. They opt out of the performance aspects of a remodeling project because their utility bills are not that high right now.”

    Owens said that the comfort of a draft-free home is also a selling point for energy improvements, especially among baby boomers.

    “The growing and aging American housing stock of more than 116 million units represents a significant potential for controlling energy consumption,” said NAHB Research Center President Mike Luzier.

    He added that 60% of the partnership’s work will be focused on existing buildings.

    For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.

  • St. Louis County passes new energy conservation building code

    29 Jul 2010 2:36 pm
    On June 29th, the St. Louis County Council gave the green light to updated residential building codes that will save homeowners hundreds in energy costs through new energy efficiency standards. St. Louis County is home to approximately one million residents, part of the Greater Metropolitan St. Louis area.

    The savings are particularly beneficial for Missourians in the long term due to projected coal-generated energy costs rising faster than in other states.

    Some facts to consider:

    * 82.4% of Missouri's power is coal-generated, while its only 50% nationwide

    * Nationally, coal accounts for 83% of US Carbon Emissions

    * US Residential Electricity prices have gone up 50% in last decade

    The adoption of the new codes means that updated energy efficiency building standards will be in effect everywhere in St. Louis County that is unincorporated or in municipalities that look to the County for code enforcement. St. Louis County is home to over 90 municipalities, many of which enforce their own building codes. There is still work to do among those municipalities that perform their own code enforcement and have yet to adopt the updated energy conservation codes.

    Although eventually near-zero energy buildings and ultra-low energy homes may be the ultimate sustainable solution, the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) establishes a set of minimum energy efficiency standards that will save homeowners on average between 12-15% energy usage.

    The Energy & Cost Savings Analysis of 2009 IECC Efficiency Improvements from the Energy Efficiency Codes Coalition concludes,

    "ICF International’s analysis estimates that homes built to the 2009 IECC standards will save 12.2% under the simple “prescriptive” method and could save 14.7% or more using the more complicated “performance-based” method."

    The City of St. Louis is not within St. Louis County, so this code adoption does not affect the city. There is, however, hope that the City of St. Louis will follow the lead of St. Louis County soon, as well as St. Charles County, which lies to the West of St. Louis County. St. Charles County has a population of approximately 350,000, and is one of the fastest growing counties in the country, which makes the adoption of energy efficient building codes extremely important.

    Ultimately, "sustainability" means behaving in such a way as to preserve and protect the existing ecosystem for future generations to enjoy—leaving things just how you've found them.


    On sustainability,


    "There is abundant scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainably, and returning human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits will require a major collective effort. Ways of living more sustainably can take many forms from reorganizing living conditions (e.g., ecovillages, eco-municipalities and sustainable cities), reappraising economic sectors (permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture), or work practices (sustainable architecture), using science to develop new technologies (green technologies, renewable energy), to adjustments in individual lifestyles that conserve natural resources."

    Energy Efficiency is the fastest and cheapest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote a cleaner and more sustainable environment. National groups like the Sierra Club, US Green Building Council and local ones, the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP) and the Home Builders Association of St. Louis and Eastern Missouri all support the new codes. Through the adoption of the 2009 Energy Conservation Code, energy efficient homes and businesses will make a substantive contribution creating a cleaner environment tomorrow.

  • HOME STAR included in Clean Energy bill

    28 Jul 2010 11:04 am
    HOME STAR Coalition Applauds Senate for Inclusion of the bi-partisan HOME STAR Legislation in The Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act.

    HOME STAR Coalition Urges Swift Action by Congress and The Administration as coalition supporters grows to over 2,600

    WASHINGTON, D.C., July 28, 2010 – The HOME STAR Coalition, a broad-based and diverse group of small and medium sized businesses and nationally recognized companies, labor and environmental organizations and associations, today applauded the inclusion of the HOME STAR legislation in The Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act. The Home Star Coalition is joining Senate leadership for a press conference today to discuss the bill and the critical need for HOME STAR.

    “I’m honored to represent the more than 2,600 members of the HOME STAR Coalition and the millions of families across America that will benefit from this important bi-partisan legislation,” said WellHome President Larry Laseter, who is representing the HOME STAR Coalition at the press conference with Senate leadership today. “HOME STAR is good policy, but even better practicality in its ability to deliver a triple win for America – it creates clean energy jobs for our nation’s skilled construction workers and at U.S. manufacturing facilities, it benefits homeowners through comfort and energy efficient improvements to their homes, and it helps the environment through long-term energy efficiency gains.”

    The HOME STAR Coalition also announced its membership increased to over 2,600, the majority of which are small and medium sized businesses and organizations from every state in the country who stand in support of HOME STAR and its widespread benefits for job creation, savings for homeowners, and energy efficiency. To view the complete list of HOME STAR Coalition supporters go here http://www.homestarcoalition.org/supporters.html

    “I am a second-generation insulation contractor with branch operations in Arizona, Nevada and California,” said Insulation Contractors Association of America (ICAA) President Jeff Banker, of Banker Insulation in Phoenix Arizona. “Passage of the HOME STAR legislation would enable our family-owned business to hire contractors in all of our locations. I urge the Senate to please help small businesses across America by passing HOME STAR.”

    The HOME STAR legislation, which passed the House in May, has bi-partisan support and over 30 co-sponsors in the Senate. HOME STAR also has the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

    HOME STAR is a market-driven, low-bureaucracy program that would create jobs fast by scaling the existing home energy efficiency improvement industry. Consumers nationwide would embrace HOME STAR because it will be simple, accessible, and help them save money.

    For more information about HOME STAR and the HOME STAR Coalition visit www.homestarcoalition.org.
    ###

  • Home Star included in stripped down energy bill

    27 Jul 2010 10:01 pm
    Stripped down energy bill leaves out 'cap and trade'

    Without 'cap and trade,' Senate majority leader Harry Reid said Tuesday the narrower energy bill has a better shot at overcoming GOP opposition.

    By Mark Clayton, Staff Writer / July 27, 2010 / CS Monitor

    Senate majority leader Harry Reid on Tuesday unveiled a vastly narrower energy bill, minus controversial climate provisions that would have capped carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The bill focuses instead on addressing the Gulf oil spill, home efficiency, land and water conservation, and natural gas powered vehicles.

    After months of political wrestling, the Nevada Democrat last week closed the door on the "cap-and-trade" proposals, including one offered by Sens. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts and Joe Lieberman (I) of Connecticut that would have focused emissions caps just on utility smokestacks. That proposal, among others, was far broader in scope.

    By contrast, Sen. Reid said Tuesday that he believed he finally had the 60 votes necessary to avoid a Republican filibuster.

    "This bill does not address every issue of importance to our nation's energy challenges, and we have to continue to work to find bipartisan agreement on a comprehensive bill to help reduce pollution and deal with the very real threat that global warming poses," Reid said in a statement. "But this is a good bill that deserves bipartisan support, and continues us along the path toward a clean energy future."

    The bill includes as its centerpiece "oil spill response" legislation that would: require BP to pay for damage from its spill; require oil companies to invest in new spill cleanup and prevention technologies; improve federal spill response; reform the Minerals Management Service; and update maritime laws.

    But other aspects of the bill, according to a draft summary of the legislation, step into other energy arenas by:

    Providing incentives for turning the nation‘s heavy truck fleet to natural gas and toward electrification of the nation‘s transportation sector.

    * Promoting "clean energy job creation" providing $5 billion of rebates to encourage homeowners to make efficiency upgrades as part of the Home Star program.

    * Fully funding a Land and Water Conservation Fund over the next five years to ensure that vital US lands and waters are protected into the future from climate change damage.

    * Increasing the $1 billion liability cap of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to $5 billion and increasing fees to pay for it by requiring that oil companies pay 49 cents per barrel into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

    But that was small solace to crest-fallen environmentalists and renewable energy advocates who were also plainly angered at Republicans' consistent ability to block major energy and climate reform in the Senate.

    “At every opportunity, a minority of Senators who are in the pocket of America’s largest polluters in the coal and oil industries chose obstruction over working together to solve America’s energy and national security challenges," said a statement by a group of 350 organizations including the League of Conservation Voters, the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Union of Concerned Scientists. "As a result of their actions, the big polluters will continue to reap record profits at the expense of Americans."

    They weren't the only ones upset. Renewable energy industry trade groups that have been back on their heels during the recession had been lobbying hard for a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) to be part of the Reid-proposed Senate energy bill.

    That would have required utilities in all 50 states to get a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable energy and energy efficiency – a big boost to wind, solar, geothermal, and other non-fossil fuel sources. But they didn't get that either.

    "The US wind industry is in distress," said Denise Bode, president of the American Wind Energy Association in a statement after the bill was released. "Wind power installations to date this year have dropped by 57% and 71% from 2008 and 2009 levels.... An RES is a critical component to ensure the US wind industry thrives.”

    In an attempt to win the 60 votes needed in the Senate to overcome the threat of a Republican filibuster, Democrats this year had followed a Rubik's Cube approach to comprehensive climate-energy legislation, exploring different combinations they felt might draw even a few GOP senators' support.

    There was an economy-wide cap-and-trade proposal that would have capped carbon emissions and sold permits to industrial, utility, and other big emitters. But that was soon labeled "cap-and-tax" – political poison in an election year. Another “clean-and-green” energy-only bill was weighed – as was a utility-only cap-and-trade (the Kerry-Lieberman bill). Finally, even a direct carbon tax was considered.

    But none of these were filibuster proof. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, was the only Republican to ever publicly considered voting for a climate-energy bill. Taking the slender offerings they received Tuesday, environmentalists though angry are now are lining up to try to help Reid in what is likely to be a struggle to pass even a much-diminished energy-environment bill.

    President Obama called Reid's bill "an important step in the right direction." But he added, "I intend to keep pushing for broader reform, including climate legislation, because if we've learned anything from the tragedy in the Gulf, it's that our current energy policy is unsustainable."

    Reid's push for a slender energy bill is now competing for precious time in the next two weeks as the Senate also holds pre-August recess votes on a food-safety bill, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, and a jobs bill.



  • Missouri says, "Show Me The PACE"

    19 Jul 2010 11:57 am
    Missouri says “show me the PACE”; as has happened for Presidents Bush through Kennedy, does winning Missouri mean winning the country?

    Lost in the hubbub over the FHFA and States suing the Federal Government is one bit of great news for the PACE Community: on July 12th, 2010 Missouri became the 23rd state to pass PACE-enabling legislation. Why is this good news, you ask? Well, for three reasons (at least):

    1. Missouri voters have correctly predicted the outcome of every presidential election (save for two, 1956 and 2008) since 1904. Perhaps Missouri will once again be a bellwether, this time for PACE at a national scale?

    2. Missouri’s a long way from Berkeley. The passage of PACE in Missouri is an indicator that PACE is a concept that transcends political, geographical, and social lines. We’ve seen this highlighted in other states as well, but this recent news reinforces the trend.

    3. Missouri’s bankers backed PACE. A source close to the effort told me that participation from the local banker’s association was critical to getting the bill pushed into law, going as far as saying that their participation was “the only way [the bill] got passed.”

    The genesis of the bill follows what has become a predictable path for PACE legislation: one local government becomes inspired by PACE and champions it at a state level. In the case of California that local government was the City of Palm Desert, which upon seeing the success of the Berkeley PACE pilot decided to push for state legislation (AB-811) that would enable all local governments to deploy PACE programs, not just Charter Cities like Berkeley. (It should be noted that Palm Desert is itself a Charter City and thus had pre-existing authority to deploy PACE. Pushing AB-811 was truly done out of the goodness of their good ol’ hearts.) In the case of Missouri, that local municipality was the City of Ferguson in St. Louis County. Every PACE program needs a champion, and it sounds like Missouri found it in Ferguson.

    One challenge Missouri may have is in getting those PACE projects to pencil. It’s hard to imagine PACE underwriting standards becoming more lax as a result of the FHFA tussle, so any PACE project will most certainly have to be cash flow positive. The average residential retail price of electricity in Missouri is 7.65 cents per kWh, compared to over 15 cents in California and 11.2 cents on average for the U.S. One of the biggest drivers of clean energy economics is the cost of avoided electricity, so these rates will narrow the scope of available projects. That said, the “good” news is that Missouri’s building standards haven’t been as aggressive as other PACE states, so hopefully there are plenty of energy hogs out there to retrofit. And the electricity PACE will save in Missouri is particularly dirty: over four fifths of it comes from coal carted in from Wyoming. Let’s hope the FHFA lets us try.

    Renew Missouri, a non-profit that worked to advance Missouri’s legislation held a workshop on Friday to kick off PACE efforts in the state. A PDF of the workshop agenda is available here. According to an article in the Columbia Missourian, they were expecting 50 and 80 turned up from 19 different municipalities. Here’s to you, Mizzurah.

    Resources on Missouri PACE legislation:

    Bill name: HB 1692
    Signed into law: 7/12/10
    Link to full text of bill
    List of Missouri organizations supporting PACE (scroll down 1/2 way):

    http://movotesconservation.org/paceFAQ.aspx

    Related Coverage:

    St. Louis Today, 7/18: PACE energy-efficiency loan program stirs concerns
    The Columbia Missourian, 7/16: Property assessed clean energy funding workshop attracts statewide attendance
    The Kansas City Star, 7/12: Governor signs bills on energy efficiency, KC zoo


    http://pacedata.org/2010/07/17/mizurrah-says-show-me-the-pace-as-happened-for-presidents-bush-through-kennedy-does-winning-missouri-mean-winning-the-country/

  • PACE article in Post Dispatch...

    18 Jul 2010 11:37 am
    PACE energy-efficiency loan program stirs concerns BY Jeffrey Tomich jtomich@post-dispatch.com
    314-340-8320

    Is Missouri's newest and boldest initiative to encourage energy savings doomed before it takes root?

    Gov. Jay Nixon signed a bill on Monday enabling Property Assesses Clean Energy (PACE) programs, which allow cities and counties to issue bonds to help home owners finance energy efficiency upgrades or solar panel installation. Money from the bond sales is lent to property owners, who repay it over a period of up to 20 years through special property tax assessments.

    PACE laws have been adopted in 22 states as a way to cut energy use and create jobs by making it easier for homeowners to cut energy use and shrink utility bills.

    But Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee more than half of the mortgages in the U.S., have been directed to steer clear of PACE loans by their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, and the Mortgage Bankers Association have expressed similar concerns.

    The issue: Like property taxes, PACE liens take priority over mortgages. That makes the bonds easier for municipalities to sell. But if a home is foreclosed on, the liens are paid before the mortgage lender can recoup any money.

    That fact has spooked mortgage giants and FHFA, which said in a July 6 letter that PACE loans "pose a significant risk to lenders" and "are not essential for successful programs to spur energy conservation."

    The position in effect shut down PACE programs across the country.

    California, which pioneered PACE financing, is fighting back. The state's attorney general sued Fannie, Freddie and FHFA on Wednesday, claiming their opposition is threatening jobs and access to federal funding.

    In Missouri, energy efficiency advocates acknowledge the uncertainty surrounding PACE but are working to roll out programs anyway, hoping the conflict is resolved.

    On Friday, energy advocacy group Renew Missouri held a PACE implementation training conference in Columbia for about 100 energy auditors, solar installers and local government officials.

    "Our view is that these concerns and problems will be resolved," said Byron DeLear, a founding partner of Energy Equity Funding LLC, a company that hopes to administer PACE programs in the state.

    DeLear also heads the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals, a year-old state association of energy auditors and contractors. MAAEP helped push PACE legislation in Jefferson City and has a lot riding on the success of the programs.

    PACE is expected to spur millions of dollars in efficiency and renewable energy upgrades across the state. That could mean hundreds of new jobs for energy auditors, contractors and home remodelers.

    DeLear projects that 80 percent of PACE loans in Missouri will be used to finance energy efficiency projects averaging about $5,000. The rest will also incorporate renewable energy systems such as solar panels with those projects averaging about $25,000. Statewide, the average PACE loan would be about $9,000, he estimates.

    Tom Ochsner, a St. Peters energy auditor, is among those counting on the programs to provide a boost to his company, Thermal Vision. He currently has just one part-time employee but hopes to be able to add more staff if PACE is successful.

    Ochsner said homeowners, too, would benefit, especially those who earn too much to qualify for low-income weatherization programs but don't have enough in the bank to fund energy savings projects out of pocket.

    "Not everyone can write a check for $6,000 or $7,000 or $8,000 for a new furnace or air conditioner and maybe some new windows," he said.

    Several cities and counties are anxious to participate in PACE programs, too. One is Ferguson, in north St. Louis County.

    "We've been watching and nurturing it for long time, and we hope to get to the point where we can use it," said Rosalind Williams, director of planning and development for the city.

    Homeowners have other ways, such as home equity loans, to finance efficiency improvements. But some homeowners are hesitant to tie up their home equity, or don't want to be subject to floating interest rates, said Steve Frenkel, Midwest director for Renewable Energy Funding LLC, a company that administers PACE programs. Others may fear that they will lose the investment if they move, he said. By contrast, PACE liens stay with the home if it's sold.

    Also, the Department of Energy and White House have issued strict underwriting guidelines to make sure financing is given to only low-risk borrowers, he said.

    The Missouri law requires the formation of local clean energy boards to review PACE applications. The boards would also be required to file annual reports with the Department of Natural Resources, cataloguing projects, loan amounts, administrative costs and cumulative energy savings.

    In most cases, energy audits would be required for PACE financing. And energy boards would approve loans if energy efficiency improvements are cost-effective.

    Missouri bankers supported the PACE legislation.

    Still, lenders won't approve any mortgages associated with PACE loans as long as Fannie, Freddie and FHFA object, said Max Cook, CEO of the bankers association. Instead, they're watching to see if the matter gets resolved. "It's an awfully big question mark," Cook said. "You hope that (the program) works as intended."

    PACE supporters reject the suggestion by Fannie and Freddie that the liens are too risky for investors. "These are no different than the kind of special assessments that local governments have created for decades for public improvements like building roads and sewer lines," Frenkel said.

    Supporters are hopeful Congress will step in and resolve the stalemate, especially since the administration of President Barack Obama has been a proponent of PACE and set aside $150 million of stimulus funds to help implement programs. Legislation was introduced in Washington on Thursday.

    "I really see this as a minor hiccup," said Erin Noble, energy policy coordinator for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. "It's pretty absurd that PACE is under the microscope that it is."

  • HOME STAR Coalition Grows to 2,000 Members

    14 Jul 2010 10:47 am
    HOME STAR Coalition Grows to 2,000 Members, Urges Administration and U.S. Senate: Include the Bi-Partisan HOME STAR Legislation (Co-Sponsored by 25 Senators) in the Small Business Jobs Bill

    WASHINGTON, D.C., July 14, 2010 – The HOME STAR Coalition, a diverse group of nationally recognized companies, labor and environmental organizations and associations, today issued an open letter to President Obama and the United States Senate encouraging the inclusion of the bi-partisan HOME STAR legislation in the Small Business Jobs bill. The Home Star Coalition letter can be viewed here: www.homestarcoalition.org/HSC_letter_to_obama_and_senate.pdf. The HOME STAR Coalition also announced its membership increased to over 2,000 small and medium sized businesses and organizations from every state in the country who stand in support of HOME STAR and its widespread benefits for job creation, savings for homeowners, and energy efficiency.

    “HOME STAR is the right investment for the country at the right time. That time is now,” said Tracy Price, CEO of The Linc Group. “Energy efficiency is not a partisan issue, as it helps move us toward greater energy independence and enhances our national security. This program is targeted at the largest marketplace in the country, existing homes, and will be create jobs in a new industry that will thrive for decades.”

    "The sooner HOME STAR is signed into law, the sooner we can get tens of thousands of American small businesspeople - contractors, insulation installers, caulkers, and others - back to work," said Kate Offringa, president and CEO of CNAIMA, representing 1,300 companies and institutions across the country advocating the adoption of HOME STAR.

    “Small businesses across America are ready, and homeowners are waiting, for HOME STAR to become law. The average size of home retrofit contracting firms is four to eight employees - small businesses that are hurt by the recession, ripe for creating jobs, and desperate for HOME STAR to pass. When Americans invest in their homes, they invest in our communities by building the market for local, quality jobs that bring contractors back to work,” said Greg Thomas, Chair of Efficiency First, a non-profit which represents nearly 1,000 business owners in all 50 states.

    The HOME STAR legislation has bi-partisan support and 25 co-sponsors in the Senate. HOME STAR also has the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

    Steve Cowell, CEO of Conservation Services Group, said, “HOME STAR will help avoid a double-dip recession by adding jobs at a critical time but it will also help reduce home energy costs for millions of Americans thus making overall housing costs more affordable."

    “The continued attention to HOME STAR shows that our elected representatives in Washington realize the enormous potential of energy efficiency incentives. These programs offer consumers a way to save energy, save money, and help bolster America’s struggling manufacturing sector. With appropriate incentives for consumers, HOME STAR can help get the American economic engine running again,” said Stephen R. Yurek, President and CEO, AHRI (Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute).

    HOME STAR is a market-driven, low-bureaucracy program that would create jobs fast by scaling the existing home energy efficiency improvement industry. HOME STAR would use rebates and tax incentives to spur more Americans to start making their homes more energy efficient. It would establish a streamlined rebate program to encourage immediate investment in energy-efficient appliances, building mechanical systems and insulation, and whole-home energy efficiency retrofits. Consumers nationwide would embrace HOME STAR because it will be simple, accessible, and help them save money.

    "Rarely is there an opportunity like HOME STAR with such wide-spread benefit - creating immediate jobs, helping consumers save money on their energy bills, all while helping the environment and our energy independence,” said Larry Laseter, president of WellHome. “Unfortunately, while awareness of home energy efficiency grows, consumers are delaying the retrofit work itself in anticipation of the HOME STAR incentives. The consumer demand exists, jobs are waiting to be filled, and we need this legislation now.”

    HOME STAR would help to kick start the comeback of our country’s hard-hit construction industry. The Coalition estimates the legislation would create 168,000 new jobs in construction and related industries over the next two years. This would have a big impact because one out of four construction workers is currently unemployed.

    “HOME STAR is an essential step to help Americans save on their energy bills while spurring the creation of good jobs and new industries that drive economic recovery and help our country achieve energy independence,” said Kevin Pranis, Director of Home Performance for Change to Win.

    “Investing in HOME STAR for our homes and buildings is the cleanest, cheapest, and fastest way to save energy,” said Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director. “By reducing the amount of energy simply going to waste, HOME STAR would allow hard-hit consumers to see immediate reductions in their energy bills, but it would also put tens of thousands of Americans back to work in skilled construction and manufacturing jobs almost immediately - making it an easy win for both the economy and the environment.”

    For more information about HOME STAR and the HOME STAR Coalition visit www.homestarcoalition.org.
    ###


    Additional quotes in support of HOME STAR from some of the Coalition’s diverse members

    “The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has done a detailed analysis and estimates HOME STAR will create 126,000 jobs in 2010 and 36,000 jobs in 2011. In addition, HOME STAR lays the groundwork for a longer term effort to help most homeowners reduce their energy bills and increase home comfort by making their homes more efficient,” said Steven Nadel, Executive Director, ACEEE.

    “HOME STAR will empower cash-strapped Americans to cut their monthly home energy bills,” said Kateri Callahan, President of the Alliance to Save Energy. “The Alliance has worked for more than 30 years to help Americans reduce their home energy costs, and with 25 percent unemployment in the construction industry, now is the time to provide the American people with the kind of assistance that HOME STAR can provide. This program will create American jobs for American workers, save homeowners money on their energy bills, and help to restart a fragile construction industry.”

    “With 25 percent unemployment, the construction industry is in a one industry depression. Retrofitting homes for energy efficiency is not only good for the environment and energy security, it is smart, fast acting, and well targeted jobs policy,” said Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress. “HOME STAR is a common-sense solution to put America back to work while saving consumers money.”

    "We believe the HOME STAR program will deliver both economic and environmental benefits," said Andrew N. Liveris, Chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company. "Economically, it will stimulate the construction sector, among the hardest hit in the recession, while also giving relief to homeowners, who count energy as their largest cost after their mortgage. HOME STAR has the additional benefit of offering immediate consumer relief through direct rebates rather than tax credits to be accrued in a distant future."

    “America has the technology, the know-how and a workforce that is ready to retrofit our homes to make them more efficient. HOME STAR will give consumers the incentives they need in order to retrofit their homes, which will immediately reduce global warming pollution, put Americans to work, and save families money in energy costs,” said Sean Garren, Clean Energy Advocate for Environment America.

    “HOME STAR is a fast but efficient way to improve the health, wealth, and well-being of our most vulnerable communities and provide pathways into prosperity for American workers. It is a win for our environment and a win for our economy,” said Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO, Green For All.

    “New jobs are desperately needed in America and HOME STAR will provide them by accelerating the growth of an industry focused on making homes use less energy. HOME STAR is based on established quality assurance standards so homeowners can be confident they are getting quality improvements installed and they will start saving money on their utility bills immediately,” said Brett Knox, President, GreenHomes America.

    “The Home Depot is supportive of the HOME STAR initiative, particularly the Silver Star program, which could be a big win for homeowners, manufacturers, contractors and the environment. If delivered with speed and simplicity, we think the HOME STAR program will help build consumer awareness around energy-efficiency measures and the impact it can have on lowering monthly utility bills. Most importantly, it will help put contractors back to work and stimulate domestic manufacturing,” said Ron Jarvis, Vice President Environmental Innovation, The Home Depot.

    “We share President Obama’s belief in the need to invest in the green economy and create good jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. We are supporting HOME STAR because it will create long-term, well-paying jobs that help struggling workers achieve economic security while also lowering energy costs. These goals are not only consonant with Jewish values of tzedek (justice) and tikkun olam (repair of the world), but are squarely in the interest of a Jewish community that would like to see the United States end our dependence on foreign energy while taking necessary steps to heal our planet,” said Simon Greer, President and CEO, Jewish Funds for Justice.

    “Now is the time to enact the HOME STAR legislation. It will put people back to work, cut the utility bills of homeowners and save energy.” HOME STAR uses a simple rebate system to motivate homeowners to hire qualified contractors to install insulation and other energy efficient products to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and make them more comfortable. “This is a much needed win for consumers, the environment and the economy. I look forward to quick action by the Senate to pass this vital legislation. It’s time to save energy,” said Mark Andrews, CEO Knauf Insulation, North America.

    “Lowe’s supports HOME STAR because it’s the right thing to do for our customers, the economy and the environment. In the near term, HOME STAR will get America’s contractors back to work and help homeowners reinvest in their homes; in the long term, HOME STAR will help homeowners save money by improving their homes’ energy efficiency,” said Michael D. Chenard, Director, Environmental Affairs, Lowe’s.

    “HOME STAR provides a direct, simple incentive that will encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient, while creating immediate American jobs in industries that are U.S.-Job centric. The incentive in turn helps the consumer save energy and lower their utility Bills. Putting people back to work is sound U.S. economic policy. Making existing homes more energy efficient is sound energy policy. We support HOME STAR,” said Mike Thaman, Chairman and CEO, Owens Corning.

    "HOME STAR is a no-brainer which is why it has thousands of companies behind it and bipartisan support. Since I started Recurve, we've grown 100% every year as homeowners increasingly value energy efficiency. Yet more action is needed as unemployment remains high and entire industries are waiting for lawmakers to step up to the plate for an easy home run. One direct way Congress can mitigate the risk of a double-dip recession is to swiftly pass HOME STAR, which earned widespread support because it offers a clear path for helping homeowners while breathing new life into our construction and manufacturing industries," said Matt Golden, president and founder, Recurve.
    ###

  • US to provide nearly $2bn for two solar energy projects

    3 Jul 2010 7:06 pm
    Nearly $2bn (£1.3bn) in loan guarantees will be given to two companies to kick-start the US solar energy industry, President Barack Obama has announced.

    One of the firms, Abenoga Solar, says that it is planning to build the largest solar power plant in the world in Arizona.

    Mr Obama said the projects would provide more than 5,000 new jobs.

    The Arizona plant should power 70,000 homes and cut carbon dioxide emissions.

    The money will come from government stimulus funds designed to boost the economy during the recession.

    Outlining the "Solana" project at Gila Bend near Phoenix, Abenoga said it would have an area of 1,900 acres, using thermal storage-equipped parabolic trough technology, with 280 MW of power output capacity.

    According to the company's website, 1,500 new jobs will be created during the plant's construction with 100 positions for staff to maintain it.

    'Aggressive'

    The second company, Abound Solar Manufacturing, will manufacture state-of-the-art thin film solar panels, the first time anywhere that such technology has been used commercially, the BBC's Jane O'Brien reports from Washington.

    Plants will be built in Colorado and Indiana, creating 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs, the Associated Press reports.

    President Obama had promised during his election campaign for the White House to create manufacturing and construction jobs in the green power industry.

    "We're going to to keep competing aggressively to make sure the jobs and industries of the future are taking root right here in America," he said on Saturday.

    The renewable energy industry in the US faces tough competition from developers in China.

    Mr Obama also acknowledged the loans would not be an instant solution.

    Around 125,000 jobs were lost in the last month, the government reported.

  • Stimulus program to weatherize homes is falling short

    26 Jun 2010 9:23 am
    Updated: Friday, June 25th, 2010 | By Lukas Pleva

    We ended our last update on President Barack Obama's campaign pledge to weatherize 1 million homes per year by noting that we'd revisit the ruling should we find that the program fell short of its goals.

    Over the last several weeks, multiple readers have e-mailed to ask if we're planning to revisit the promise, since reports were coming out that the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) wasn't living up to its expectations.

    The most telling account of the program's progress is a report released by the U.S. Department of Energy in February 2010. The report provides two key conclusions. First, out of the $4.73 billion that the stimulus act provided for weatherization work, only $368.2 million had been spent. That's less than 8 percent. Second, of the 10 highest grant recipients, only two completed more than two percent of the planned units. Texas, for example, had planned to weatherize 33,908 units. As of Feb. 16, 2010, it had not weatherized any.

    "In short," notes the report, "the Nation has not, to date, realized the potential economic benefits of the $5 billion in Recovery Act funds allocated to the Weatherization Program. The job creation impact of what was considered to be one of the Department's most 'shovel ready' projects has not materialized. And, modest income home residents have not enjoyed the significant reductions in energy consumption and improved living conditions promised as part of the massive Recovery Act weatherization effort."

    What accounts for the slow start? The audit identified three categories of challenges.

    First, because of a Depression-era law known as the Davis-Bacon Act, recipients of the weatherization funds had to pay the laborers a locally "prevailing wage." Problem was, very few states and counties actually knew what this prevailing wage was. In June 2009, the Secretary of Energy released a memo urging the fund recipients to begin the weatherization work anyway, while the Department of Labor was working out the wage determinants. If it turned out that the workers were underpaid, the state would pay them retroactively. Most states, however, "concerned with avoiding perceived administrative problems and burdens associated with retroactive adjustments to wages," chose not to begin the projects until the wage rates were formally established.

    Second, the report notes that there were multiple state-level issues. In California, for example, furloughs created significant delays in implementing the weatherization program.

    Finally, the Energy Department mandated that all of the project workers receive additional training. Again, budget shortfalls and furloughs caused significant delays.

    The department said in February that it has cleared most of the hurdles and that the pace of weatherization should significantly improve. As of March 31, 2010, about 80,000 homes have been weatherized. That is 13 percent of the originally planned 593,000, according to the Government Accountability Office.

    We'll keep watching how this unfolds, but for now, it's clear that the program has fallen short of its original goals. We are changing the rating to Compromise.

    Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Special
    Report: Progress in Implementing the Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Feb. 19, 2010

    U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO Releases Its Latest Report on the Recovery Act, accessed June 21, 2010

    ABC News, Report: Stimulus Weatherization Program Bogged Down by Red Tape, by Jonathan Karl, Feb. 17, 2010

  • ADVANCING CLEAN ENERGY AT THE LOCAL LEVEL:

    24 Jun 2010 10:05 am
    Friday, July 16, 2010
    Charter Lecture Hall at Stephens College – Columbia, MO

    9:00 am – 3:00 pm
    Hosted by Renew Missouri
    Register at www.RenewMO.org/pace-traning.html


    Topics Include:


    • PACE benefits, details, and logistics
    • What a PACE program entails
    • Effective timelines for implementation
    • Funding options for PACE programs
    • Crucial safeguards
    • Effective ways to monitor and evaluate program performance
    • How to identify and reach out to program participants

    The training will also include a panel discussion on local energy efficiency and renewable programs currently underway in Missouri and others that should be considered. Speakers include:
    o Dennis Murphy, KC
    o Barbara Buffaloe, Columbia
    o Brian Hamburg, Springfield
    o Catherine Werner, St. Louis
    Note: Registration is from 8-9am, program from 9am-3pm. Lunch is included.
    Topic Organization Speaker

    PACE History and Potential. How to designing an effective PACE program
    Renewable Funding
    Steve Frenkel, Midwest Region Director

    The Legal Framework of PACE
    Gilmore & Bell
    Armstrong Teasdale LLP
    Mark Spykerman
    Robert Klahr

    Helping Smaller Municipalities Aggregate
    EIERA
    Karen Massey, Deputy Director

    A Blueprint for PACE in Missouri and Federal Funding for PACE Programs
    Missouri Department of Natural Resources
    James Trout, Energy Project Manager

    Local Implementation of PACE
    The City of Ferguson
    Rosalind Williams, Director of Planning and Development

    Missouri Options for PACE Financing
    Energy Equity Funding
    Byron DeLear, Chair

    Legislative Priorities for 2011
    Renew Missouri
    PJ Wilson, Columbia Director


    Cost:
    Attendee Price (includes lunch)

    Municipal, county, or other government employee, Not-for-profits, Private citizens
    $75

    For-Profit Professionals (i.e. energy, finance, construction, etc.)
    $100

    Register at www.RenewMO.org/pace-training.html
    Other Stakeholders, including auditors, contractors, not-for-profit organizations, and private citizens wishing to be involved in the creation of effective local clean energy programs are also encouraged to attend.
    On May 14 the Missouri General Assembly passed a bipartisan efficiency and renewable energy bill that will create What is PACE?

    PACE is state-enabling legislation that allows cities and counties to issue bonds or otherwise finance programs that pay up to 100% of the upfront costs of effieincy and renewable energy upgrades for homes and businesses, including energy audits.
    The new legislation requires energy savings to outweigh special assessment payments, and are thus cashflow-positive, saving participants money continually from day one. Homeowners repay project costs gradually though a special assessment on the property taxes of the benefited property. Upon the sale of a home, the special assessment and energy savings are passed onto the next owner.
    What are the benefits of PACE for cities and counties?

    Revenue Neutral - PACE loan programs have very little impact to the city’s budget, since the bonds cover both the loans and the program administration costs and are repaid through the voluntary assessments placed on participating property owners. Loan payments are collected alongside property taxes.

    Job Growth - PACE has the ability to stimulate local job creation through the installation of solar energy and efficiency improvements on private property – jobs that can’t be outsourced!

    What are the benefits to participating property owners?
    Low Upfront Cost - Removes the upfront cost barrier of renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements. Most programs only charge a small fee to property owners.

    Less Investment Risk - Removes the uncertainty of recovering the cost of improvements if the property is sold, since the loan stays with the property via the tax assessment.

    Lower Monthly Payments - Reduces the cost of ownership of the property immediately, since the monthly loan payment is typically less than the monthly savings on utility bills.

    Good Financial Sense - The loan typically has terms that are better than other loan options.



    For more information on the PACE Training or on PACE in Missouri, contact Jason Hughes at (573) 239-5690 or Jason@RenewMO.org. Renew Missouri is a project of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, a 501(c)3 organization.

  • In Defense of PACE: Constitutionality White Paper

    23 Jun 2010 11:27 am
    Here's a White Paper on PACE arguing the Constitutionality of the program, "PACE programs rely on the use of a time-tested method of empowering local governments to finance improvements on private lands to achieve public purposes and to levy taxes or assessments against the benefitted property. The legislative decision to give

    PACE taxes or assessments senior lien status is likewise supported by ample precedent addressing the constitutionality of government action that affects pre-existing private
    contracts."

    http://pacenow.org/documents/PHJW%20PACE%20White%20Paper%205.28.10%20(final).pdf

  • Efficiency Advocates Mobilize to Defend PACE Financing

    23 Jun 2010 11:10 am
    Growing national interest in Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing hit a snag a few weeks ago when the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (a.k.a. Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (a.k.a. Fannie Mae) put the word out to mortgage lenders that they don’t like the idea of PACE liens taking precedence over existing mortgage debt. According to the Wall Street Journal:

    In somewhat-cryptic letters that Fannie and Freddie sent to lenders earlier this month, the companies reminded banks that their agreements don’t allow them to purchase loans that have a senior lien. “An energy-related lien may not be senior to any Mortgage delivered to Freddie Mac,” the company said. Both firms said they would provide “additional guidance” if the PACE programs move beyond the “experimental stage.”

    The letters suggest that Fannie and Freddie won’t allow borrowers with a PACE lien to refinance or sell their properties unless the liens are paid off. Proponents say the liens need to be senior or they won’t attract sufficient interest from bond investors. The Department of Energy, meanwhile, issued revised guidelines for municipalities that use the program.

    Since then, proponents of property assessed energy improvement loans have been rallying support for PACE financing in Washington. The debate heated up this week when Cathy Zoi, the DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, wrote to Edward DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) – which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – to ask for clarification of the cryptic advisories sent out on May 5.

    “It would be helpful if you would articulate as soon as practicable guidelines and parameters that experimental pilot PACE financing programs should follow so that their operations can proceed without encountering adverse action by the Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs) under your conservatorship,” Zoi wrote. “As you know, the Administration is committed to supporting the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy finance programs that protect homeowners and lenders while reducing energy consumption and increasing our economic competitiveness. PACE financing is one such financing mechanism among many promising options currently being piloted at the State and local level with the support of the Administration.”

    Zoi’s letter reminds DeMarco in no uncertain terms that the DOE has already met with the FHFA, bank regulators and other stakeholders to “understand and incorporate lender and other perspectives on PACE programs,” and emphasizes that the “May 5, 2010, lender letters from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have created confusion for DOE’s grantees and stakeholders.” Zoi then requests “clarity on the specific criteria the financial regulatory community believes is necessary to enable these experimental pilot PACE financing programs to proceed. Additionally, we ask for written confirmation that property owners with existing PACE assessments will not be considered in violation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Uniform Securities Instrument prohibitions against loans taking a senior position to the mortgage.”

    Meanwhile, the San Francisco-based Vote Solar Initiative has commissioned a 23-page white paper detailing the legal basis for PACE financing in California. The Constitutionality of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Programs Under Federal and California Law, by Sanjay Ranchod, Jill E.C. Yung and Gordon E. Hart of the law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, concludes that:

    PACE programs rely on the use of a time-tested method of empowering local governments to finance improvements on private lands to achieve public purposes and to levy taxes or assessments against the benefited property. The legislative decision to give PACE taxes or assessments senior lien status is likewise supported by ample precedent addressing the constitutionality of government action that affects pre-existing private contracts.

    We will continue to follow this developing story and provide status updates in future blog posts.

    Read the Wall Street Journal’s coverage here:
    www.blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/05/17/fannie-freddie-freeze-out-energy-efficiency-loan-initiative

    Download a PDF of the Vote Solar Initiative white paper here:
    www.votesolar.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/PHJW-PACE-White-Paper.pdf

    Learn more about PACE financing here: www.votesolar.org/explanation-of-pace

  • MO-DNR: Funds to provide energy cost reductions

    14 Jun 2010 8:10 am
    Funds to provide energy cost reductions
    Sunday, June 13, 2010

    JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is offering $7.75 million in funding under Energize Missouri Homes to provide Missouri residents with an opportunity to reduce energy costs, while improving the overall energy efficiency and quality of their homes.

    Through Energize Missouri Homes, the department has created the Homeowner Upgrades with Geothermal Program. Under that program, incentives will be available for owners of single-family homes to conduct energy audits, implement whole-house energy saving measures and install geothermal systems. The department will select municipal, cooperative or investor-owned utilities; not-for-profit organizations; quasi-government organizations; or local governments to operate these programs.

    Selected organizations will provide marketing, outreach and technical assistance to homeowners and process grant requests. Homeowners will then apply to these organizations for the energy-efficiency grants.

    Energize Missouri Homes is soliciting and receiving applications from organizations or local governments that want to operate the Homeowner Upgrades with Geothermal Program through a competitive application process. Applications must be submitted to the department by July 9. Application documents are available on the department’s website at: http://dnr.mo.gov/transform/energizemissourihomes.htm. The department will offer a webinar on June 16 to give applicants with an overview of the Homeowner Upgrades with Geothermal Program.

    Energize Missouri Homes is a Missouri initiative made possible by funds from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. For more information on the programs, webinars and upcoming events, call 877-610-0834.

    The department’s Division of Energy is a nonregulatory state office that works to protect the environment and stimulate the economy through energy efficiency and renewable energy resources and technologies.

  • MAAEP lobbies Home Star in DC with Efficiency First

    24 May 2010 8:26 pm
    Efficiency First rallies US small businesses to support Home Star jobs bill in DC by Byron DeLear

    Every now and again, an idea or concept or product comes along, spreads out all over the place and sets a new standard. Take, for example, ATM machines or UPC Barcode or even the internet; looking back, it's hard to imagine those innovations not being ubiquitous and ever-present. We just accept them today as being an integral part of the modern landscape, like wallpaper or furniture, cars.

    "Energy efficiency" is quickly becoming the latest standard centering around new retrofit construction techniques reducing the energy consumption of homes, offices and buildings.

    Energy efficiency generates multiple benefits:

    * Massive job creation and domestic economic stimulus

    * Homeowners save money on energy bills

    * Increase American energy independence

    * First step in diversifying the US energy sector; renewable energy and smart grid rollout

    * Good for the environment

    Last week, Efficiency First organized over a 100 small business contractors from across the nation to travel to Washington DC to champion the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act in the US Senate, which had previously passed the US House with bi-partisan support. Home Star is a jobs bill, but it doesn't stop there. It also supports the development of smart energy strategies and jump starts the energy efficiency industry. Home Star has sometimes been called "Cash for Caulkers" loosely named after the well-known "Cash for Clunkers" program. But whereas Cash for Clunkers often went to purchase foreign cars, just about Home Star's whole kit-and-caboodle stays in the US.

    Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT.), who had authored the US House version of Home Star, addressed the contractors, saying,

    "We want to build up manufacturing in this country and 90% of the materials that are used in this work are manufactured in this country -- so even without the whole debate about 'buy American' -- it will be bought in America. This work will be done in America."

    Representing Missouri as chair of the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP), I advocated with other efficiency business owners to the offices of eight US Senators, including personal exchanges with Missouri's Sen. Claire McCaskill and Sen. Sam Brownback of neighboring state Kansas. I applauded Senator Brownback on recent Kansas City successes with the number of energy efficiency retrofits leading the Midwest, including Kansas City Missouri's Green Impact Zone.

    Sen. Brownback indicated his support for Home Star, and said,

    "Let's try to find a way to get this done."

    Many potential solutions to get Home Star passed were talked about in the offices of Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK.), Tom Harkin (D-IA.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX.), Kit Bond (R-MO.) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL.) , to name a few our group visited (there were 8 Efficiency First groups).

    Matt Golden, President of Recurve, Inc. and policy chair of Efficiency First had a lot to say about the struggling construction trades; how Home Star acts as a 'shot in the arm' building up a new industry that puts underemployed workers back on the job.

    "For hundreds of thousands of American construction and manufacturing workers who have been sidelined by the recession, the proposed Home Star program – which now awaits Senate approval – represents a lifeline to good jobs with living wages in a growing 21st-century industry. While much of our economy appears to be on the road to recovery, the outlook for American construction workers is truly grim. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 2 million construction jobs dried up between December 2007 and January 2010, leaving around one in five experienced construction workers unemployed. And with demand for new buildings stalled at historically low levels, there’s little hope that these workers will be rehired in traditional construction jobs any time soon."

    This is where Home Star comes in.

    Slated to begin creating 168,000 jobs the moment President Obama signs into law, Home Star is not just throwing money at a wall to see what sticks, it builds a market-driven rebate model that rewards home owners who reach higher levels of efficiency performance, which is good for our nation as a whole. Home Star also leverages private investment giving more bang for the buck. Home Star is a $6 billion program, so a state like Missouri is pro-rated to receive a potential $120 million dollars.

    As I've said in the past, I believe in less than ten years, an energy audit and retrofit for an existing home or office will become as commonplace as the safety and emissions test for your car. It will be a new standard and this is a new industry taking hold the nation. Efficiency is about jobs, and domestically manufactured products like weather-strip, insulation and caulking. Estimates fly around about the size of this national revolution of retrofits, from 1 trillion dollars of economic activity to a recent figure I heard from the Department of Energy roadshow in Kansas City, a gargantuan 6 trillion dollars coast-to-coast! (presumably including commercial Real Estate)

    In an era of incessant dismantling of entire legacy industries stateside, all Americans should lower their shoulders to help launch the energy efficiency industry into the mainstream--and all Americans can participate in its rollout. These jobs are quality American jobs that are insulated from outsourcing and as job creation is the prevailing social issue of the day, our collective support of this emerging new standard becomes the moral, patriotic and smart thing to do.

  • MAAEP organizational meeting in Springfield, MO. for industry professionals on May 25th

    24 May 2010 7:23 pm
    Organizational Meeting
    Springfield, MO
    May 25, 2010

    You are invited to an organizational meeting hosted by the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals

    Location: The Springfield Contractors Association, 1313 North Nias Ave., Springfield, MO 65802
    Time: 6pm-7:30pm

    The Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP) is a statewide professional organization of energy auditors, energy efficiency professionals and affiliates. MAAEP has had organizational meetings in St. Louis, Kansas City and Jefferson City. The purpose of MAAEP is to ensure the integrity and encourage the growth of the energy efficiency industry in Missouri through standards, programs and strategic trade alliances.

    We are encouraging anyone involved with energy efficiency industry to come to the organizational meeting. Topics to be discussed will include:
    • Membership benefits.
    • MAAEP trade alliance with REALTORS©.
    • Certification and training.
    • PACE financing.
    • HomeStar program.
    • Energize Missouri Homes program.
    • Missouri Department of Natural Resources standardization efforts.

    There are literally hundreds of millions of dollars of program funds that may be coming into the state, provided we are prepared to put these funds to work.


    This meeting is for information and organizational purposes only.

    Please RSVP, to info@MAAEP.org or (314) 985-5673.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To find more information on MAAEP, please visit our website at www.MAAEP.org. MAAEP will continue to be involved within the energy efficiency community in order to further our mission of promoting renewable and green energy solutions for Missouri.

    We look forward to working together to advance this cause.

    Sincerely,

    Tom Appelbaum
    Tom@MAAEP.org

    Marc Bluestone
    Marc@MAAEP.org

    Byron DeLear
    Byron@MAAEP.org

    Harvey Ferdman
    Harvey@MAAEP.org

    Damien Flaherty
    Damien@MAAEP.org

    Matthew Pidgeon
    Matt@MAAEP.org

    David Rabenau
    David@MAAEP.org




  • Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) legislation passes in Missouri!

    17 May 2010 11:04 am
    Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) legislation passes in Missouri!

    Members: We have been working very hard to get PACE passed, special thanks to all who helped to move this forward. Get ready to ramp up! -- MAAEP Exec. Board

    Coalition for new jobs, energy independence and environment puts Missouri on PACE

    Jefferson City, Mo. / May 14, 2010 - On Friday, a broad coalition of state wide groups came together to help pass historic job-creating clean energy PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) legislation making Missouri the 20th state to adopt the program.

    Missouri organizations including energy-efficiency professionals, environmental advocates, community bankers and individual Realtors garnered bi-partisan support for PACE which was amended to several bills in the final days and hours of the legislative session to ensure its passage.

    "When signed into law by Governor Jay Nixon, PACE promises to improve and upgrade a significant percentage of Missouri's homes and commercial properties at little or no cost to the state or local municipalities, create thousands of local jobs, and save money for homeowners by lowing their utility bills and make our state and nation more energy independent," explained Byron DeLear of the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP).

    MAAEP's membership is made up of the new emerging professions surrounding energy efficiency: "green jobs" including energy auditors, efficiency experts and home performance contractors. MAAEP joined forces with Renew Missouri, Missouri bankers, Missouri Votes Conservation, Armstrong Teasdale's Future Energy Group and other stakeholders to outreach to key legislators to get PACE passed.

    "Renew Missouri was honored to have played such an instrumental role in helping to craft and get PACE passed," remarked Erin Noble, Energy Policy Director for Missouri Coalition for the Environment / Renew Missouri. "With PACE, we are building on our past success of 2008's Proposition C Clean Energy Initiative in advancing the cause of smart and sustainable clean-energy policies for our state, in addition to restoring our economy through job creation."

    "We need jobs--electrical workers, carpenters and home builders looking for work are now getting qualified for upcoming energy efficiency opportunities upgrading and improving tens of thousands of homes, offices and buildings throughout Missouri," said attorney and MAAEP board member Tom Appelbaum, "PACE has the potential to bring an entire new industry to the Midwest, we are all very excited and pleased."

    MAAEP board member and owner of Home Green Home, Marc Bluestone exclaimed, "This is just what we need (PACE) to kick start Missouri into playing a lead role in the American clean-energy transformation!"

    MAAEP to conduct organizational meeting for professional members on May 25th in Springfield, MO. (time and location to be announced)

  • Home Star Energy Retrofit Act Will Create Jobs, Cut Dependence on Foreign Oil

    10 May 2010 7:41 am
    Home Star Energy Retrofit Act Will Create Jobs, Cut Dependence on Foreign Oil
    Washington, D.C. – Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri, today joined a strong, bipartisan majority to pass H.R. 5019, the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010. The legislation, which was approved by a vote of 246-161, is expected to create nearly 170,000 jobs in construction, retail and manufacturing. The bill would offer rebates for whole-home retrofits, saving American families $9 billion on their utility bills over the next 10 years.
    “These new Home Star Energy rebates will provide immediate incentives to working families who renovate their homes to become more energy-efficient,” said the Congressman. “Home Star will stimulate our economy by creating good jobs for local energy contractors, builders and hardware store employees. This legislation will also move the United States towards energy independence."
    The bill features two levels of rebates that will help an estimated 3 million American homeowners.
    The Silver Star program would provide up-front rebates of up to $3,000 for the installation of proven energy-saving technologies, such as insulation, duct sealing, window and door improvements, air sealing, and advanced water heaters.
    The Gold Star program rewards homeowners with up to $8,000 for conducting a comprehensive energy audit and substantially reducing their energy use at home.
    This bill would boost our construction and manufacturing industries in the short term by creating jobs immediately. More than 90% of the materials and products used in eligible measures are made in the U.S.
    This legislation builds on our previous accomplishments offering tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements in the Recovery Act. Through the end of 2010, homeowners can receive a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost of these improvements, up to $1,500. More information is available at http://www.energysavers.gov/financial
    The Home Star Energy Retrofit Act has received bipartisan support, and has been endorsed by a broad range of business, labor, environmental, and consumer groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association of Home Builders.
    # # #

  • Announcement of Major New Energy Efficiency Effort

    21 Apr 2010 1:38 pm
    THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
    Office of Public Affairs

    News Media Contact: For Immediate Release:
    (202) 586-4940 Wednesday, April 21, 2010

    Vice President Biden Kicks Off Five Days of Earth Day Activities with Announcement of Major New Energy Efficiency Effort
    25 Communities Selected for Recovery Act “Retrofit Ramp-Up” Awards

    Washington, D.C. - Vice President Biden will today kick off five days of Administration events around the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with the announcement of the selection of 25 communities for up to $452 million in Recovery Act funding to “ramp-up” energy efficiency building retrofits. Under the Department of Energy’s Retrofit Ramp-Up initiative, communities, governments, private sector companies and non-profit organizations will work together on pioneering and innovative programs for concentrated and broad-based retrofits of neighborhoods and towns – and eventually entire states. These partnerships will support large-scale retrofits and make energy efficiency accessible to hundreds of thousands of homeowners and businesses. The models created through this program are expected to save households and businesses about a $100 million annually in utility bills, while leveraging private sector resources, to create what funding recipients estimate at about 30,000 jobs across the country during the next three years.

    "For forty years, Earth Day has focused on transforming the way we use energy and reducing our dependence on fossil fuel - but this year, because of the historic clean energy investments in the Recovery Act, we're poised to make greater strides than ever in building a nationwide clean energy economy," said Vice President Biden. “This investment in some of the most innovative energy-efficiency projects across the country will not only help homeowners and businesses make cost-cutting retrofit improvements, but also create jobs right here in America."

    “This initiative will help overcome the barriers to making energy efficiency easy and accessible to all – inconvenience, lack of information, and lack of financing,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "Block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, we will make our communities more energy efficient and help families save money. At the same time, we’ll create thousands of jobs and strengthen our economy."

    In addition to the $452 million Recovery Act investment, the 25 projects announced today will leverage an estimated $2.8 billion from other sources over the next 3 years to retrofit hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the country. Overall, the program funding was eight times oversubscribed, with more than $3.5 billion in applications received for the just over $450 million in Recovery Act funds available, indicating significant demand for investment in energy-saving and job-creating projects like these nationwide.

    Grantees will employ innovative financing models to make these savings accessible, for example by offering low and no-interest loans that are repaid through property tax and utility bills. In implementing these projects, grantees will deliver verified energy savings and incorporate sustainable business models, to ensure that buildings will continue to be retrofitted after Recovery Act funds are spent. The Department will use the lessons learned from these pilot programs to develop best-practice guides to comprehensive retrofit programs that can be adopted and implemented by other communities across the country.

    The Retrofit Ramp-Up projects, which are part of the overall $80 billion Recovery Act investment in clean energy and energy efficiency, complement the Obama Administration’s ‘Recovery through Retrofit’ initiative, which lays the groundwork for a self-sustaining and robust home energy efficiency industry. The awards are the competitive portion of DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program, which was funded for the first time under the Recovery Act to help state, local, and tribal communities make strategic investments in improving energy efficiency, reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions.

    Secretary Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, joined Vice President Biden today for the announcement, which was the first of more than two dozen events and activities Administration officials will participate in around Earth Day. In addition to today’s event, the President will host an Earth Day reception with environmental leaders on Thursday, April 22nd, a video message from the President will air as part of events on the National Mall on Sunday, April 25th, and Administration officials will participate in educational programs with school children, visit wetland and coastal restoration projects and participate in community service projects as part of the President’s Earth Day call to action. The events will highlight some of the ways the Administration is working to improve the environment, transform American infrastructure for greater energy-efficiency and build a clean energy economy that supports the jobs of the future. As part of the events, Administration officials will also continue the push for Congress to act on HOME STAR legislation and comprehensive energy and climate change legislation. A full roster of Administration Earth Day activities is below and more information on the President’s Earth Day call to action is available at www.WhiteHouse.gov/EarthDay.

    Retrofit Ramp-Up Awards

    The following governments and non-profit organizations have been selected for Retrofit Ramp-Up awards. These projects are planned to begin in fall 2010. Final award amounts are subject to negotiation:

    Austin, Texas - $10 million
    Boulder County, Colorado - $25 million
    Camden, New Jersey - $5 million
    Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning - $25 million
    Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, Ohio - $17 million
    Greensboro, North Carolina - $5 million
    Indianapolis, Indiana - $10 million
    Kansas City, Missouri - $20 million
    Los Angeles County, California - $30 million
    Lowell, Massachusetts - $5 million
    State of Maine - $30 million
    State of Maryland - $20 million
    State of Michigan - $30 million
    State of Missouri - $5 million
    Omaha, Nebraska - $10 million
    State of New Hampshire - $10 million
    New York State Research and Development Authority - $40 million
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - $25 million
    Phoenix, Arizona - $25 million
    Portland, Oregon - $20 million
    San Antonio, Texas - $10 million
    Seattle, Washington - $20 million
    Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance - $20 million
    Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, Ohio - $15 million
    Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation - $20 million

    For more information on the selected projects, visit HERE. A map of the selected projects is available HERE.

    Retrofit By the Numbers

    · Residential and commercial buildings consume 40 percent of the energy and represent 40 percent of the carbon emissions in the United States. Building efficiency represents one of the easiest, most immediate and most cost effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and save money on energy bills while creating new jobs:

    · Existing techniques and technologies in energy efficiency retrofitting can reduce energy use by up to 40 percent per home and lower total associated greenhouse gas emissions by up to 160 million metric tons annually.

    · Residential and commercial retrofits also have the potential to cut energy bills by $40 billion annually.

  • MAAEP Quarterly Newsletter -- Check it out!

    12 Apr 2010 12:17 pm
    For correct formatting Click to view this email in a browser http://p0.vresp.com/BH7d7e Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP)MAAEP Newsletter / 1st Quarter 2010IN THIS SECTION:* MAAEP Receives $30,000 Award to Promote Energy Building Codes* Energy-Efficiency Stakeholder Roundtable at Missouri State Capitol* Advancing Energy Efficiency in Jefferson City* MAAEP Educates Legislators and Testifies on PACE in Mo. Sen.Committee* MAAEP Board Member Invited by Repower America to DC to Promote CleanEnergy* Energy Audit Demonstration Video Courtesy of MyGreenToolkit* Sec. of Energy Steven Chu: "Towards A More Energy Efficient World" MAAEP Receives $30,000 Award to Promote Energy Conservation CodeThroughout Missouri In collaboration with Sierra Club's Cool Cities campaign, MAAEP willeducate the public and officials on the benefits and importance ofadopting the up-to-date energy conservation building code for homes inMissouri.MAAEP is a non-profit association of certified energy auditors, homeperformance contractors and related industry professionals andorganizations. We promote renewable and green energy solutions forexisting homes, buildings and new construction. Our accredited energyprofessionals perform energy audits and then recommend energyefficiency upgrades to save on energy and utility bills. We helpcreate new “green-collar” jobs and train energy professionals. MAAEP offers affiliate and associate memberships in addition to sponsorshipfrom industry related individuals and organizations. MAAEP has organized across the state and has participated in lobbying efforts in the Missouri legislature with over 150 participants.MAAEP's Program Manager for the IECC 2009 Conservation Code Campaign will be Tom Appelbaum, a member of the executive board of MAAEP and an attorney and geologist. He will be coordinating efforts within MAAEP and relying on the experience of the entire MAAEP team in carrying outthe Campaign.

    Partnering with MAAEP will be Matt Belcher, of Belcher Consulting. Mr. Belcher is an expert in building codes and green building and hasbeen in the process of building coalitions and training with regards to green building codes. Mr. Belcher was 2007 President of the HomeBuilders Association of St. Louis and Eastern Missouri (HBA-STL) and served on its Building Codes committee for 15 years, 7 as Chair."MAAEP is in alignment with the Sierra Club in promoting the improvements in the new model code (IECC 2009)," explained Mr. Appelbaum, "and we look forward to bringing our good name and standing in the community to assist in the implementation of this worthyproject."www.MAAEP.org Energy-Efficiency Stakeholder Roundtable at Missouri State Capitol Jobs, economic reinvigoration and industry trade-alliances were the focus of much of the discussion at the MAAEP sponsored morning session held in a Mo. House Hearing Room on March 31st, 2010.

    Energy-efficiency stakeholders representing both the public and private sector participated, including: Fred Kratky CEO of St. Louis Board of Realtors (SLAR), Linda Martinez of Bryan Cave Law Firm, Elena Seon and Jim Trout of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Matt Belcher Former President of the St. Louis Home-Builder's Association and Chairman of the Missouri Greening Homes Conference, Russ Rudy and Linda Brinkerhoff of the Energy and Environmental Training Center of Kansas City (EETCKC), Prof.

    Robert Reed from Univ. of Missouri, and Glenn Kage Jr. and Greg Landwehr, former AFL-CIO affiliated Auto Workers.Everyone told their story of what made them a stakeholder in the energy-efficiency industry and what issues they were concerned about,as well as exciting upcoming industry developments.A brief outline of subjects discussed:* Energy-efficiency and renewables to create 10,000 to 15,000 jobs in less than a decade for Missouri* Direct benefit to homeowners, renters and landlords, the economy and environment* Up to 10 billion dollars of local economic activity* Developing training standards for energy auditors and home performance contractors* Ramifications of "quick-buck clipboard audits" with sole agenda to sell new windows, etc.* Establishing best practices for energy audits with standardized metrics on deliverables* Quality-control issues to facilitate underwriters in sustainable PACE implementation* Improving homes to achieve "NET ZERO" energy consumptionMAAEP has been developing market friendly standards and promotional campaigns with the goal of working with REALTORS to promote energyefficiency upgrades to the state''s housing stock.

    MAAEP board member Byron DeLear commented on the potential of the REALTOR/Energy Auditor partnership, "Trade alliances and innovative public-privatepartnerships are what's necessary to increase the number of energy-efficient home retrofits nationally from 250,000 per year--tomillions. It's essential to grow the demand organically from the ground up with a sound business model. Missouri REALTORS can be aneffective energy-efficiency marketing force because they know properties the best--and by championing a narrative of saving folks onenergy bills and increasing home owner equity--they will be seen as heroes having restored home values across Missouri during a stalledhousing market.

    REALTORS, auditors and efficiency contractors will be actively promoting jobs, economic recovery and quality of life for our state."MAAEP Executive Board members in attendance were David Rabenau, Harvey Ferdman, Marc Bluestone, Tom Appelbaum and Byron DeLear. MAAEP will conduct an organizational meeting for professional members in Springfield, MO. in the 2nd Quarter of 2010.www.MAAEP.orghttp://www.MAAEP.org Advancing Energy Efficiency in Jefferson City On Feb. 3rd in Jefferson City, the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP) was honored to have the opportunity towork with Renew Missouri and Missouri Coalition for the Environment to bring together over 150 small business owners, activists, green energyexperts and other stakeholders to voice sensible arguments and deliver important information to legislators about the latest developments in energy efficiency. At a press conference on the Capitol steps, MarcBluestone of Home Green Home and Damien Flaherty of EnergyAudits.com gave engaging speeches on the benefits and necessity of energy audits, efficiency and new enabling legislation like "PACE".PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) programs are coming online in 18 states and are often considered a "game-changer" for energy efficiency and renewable energy. PACE is state-enabling legislation that allows cities to pursue bonds to pay for a revolving loan program that lends money to both commercial and residential property owners for energyefficiency and renewable energy improvements. It alleviates the upfront cost of efficiency and renewable upgrades by allowing home orbusiness owners to finance their projects over a period of time.PACE’s revenue neutral characteristics make it an easy win for legislators and municipalities; it is already receiving bipartisan support in Jefferson City. Last Wednesday, April 7th, PACE was approved by the Missouri State Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment.“PACE provides a longer-term financing scheme for energy efficiency upgrades, so home-owners will make improvements with very low up-frontcosts. By spreading out the payments over the course of 15-20 years, the energy savings gained each month on electric bills often make the upgrades net positive from day one," says Marc Bluestone, of Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP).Click Here for video of Marc Bluestone speech in Jefferson City / Feb 3rd, 2010http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbdkOIKNYMs MAAEP Educates Legislators and Testifies on PACE in Mo. Sen. Committee On March 29th, Renew Missouri held an educational session for Capitollegislators on PACE legislation, in which Byron DeLear spoke on jobs and workforce issues.

    In the Missouri State Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment on March 30th, MAAEP was onrecord testifying in support of PACE. An energy omnibus version of the bill was approved by the committee on April 7th, by a vote of 5-1.Click Here for PACE Bill Summary: SB 1037 (Bray)http://www.senate.mo.gov/10info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=3406090 MAAEP Board Member Invited by Repower America to DC to Promote CleanEnergy After presenting on behalf of MAAEP at a Creve Coeur community meeting, Tom Appelbaum was invited by Repower America to travel to DCto promote clean energy initiatives. Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation can bring 29,000 jobs to Missouri and reduce our dependence on foreign oil – something that Tom and LaDonna Appelbaumand Brian Wahby want Senator Claire McCaskill and other elected officials to remember from their visit with them in March of thisyear. Tom Appelbaum, attorney and Executive Board member of MAAEP, and his wife LaDonna Appelbaum, a small business owner, along withBrian Wahby, a local Missouri political leader met with Senator McCaskill and others on Capitol Hill to share the views of everydayMissourians about the benefits of clean energy and climate legislation to Missouri.“It is important for Senator McCaskill to know just how important passing comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation is for thepeople of St. Louis and for every Missouri resident,” Wahby said. “This week, I’m helping to put power where it belongs, putting frontand center the voices of everyday working Missourians to their leadersin Washington.”Click Here for Business and Political Leaders Bring Missourian Support for Clean Energyhttp://www.firedupmissouri.com/content/business-and-political-leaders-bring-missourian-support-clean-energy-meeting-senator-mccaski Energy Audit Demonstration Video Courtesy of MyGreenToolkit(MyGreenToolkit.com Click Here for Energy Audit Explanatory Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLrF5ltK3SM U.S. Sec. of Energy Steven Chu: Towards A More Energy Efficient World First, the Department is working to develop a strong home retrofit industry. We are creating a state-of-the-art tool that home inspectorscan use on a handheld device to assess energy savings potential and identify the most effective investments to drive down energy costs. We’re also investing in training programmes to upgrade the skills ofthe current workforce and attract the next generation.

    The Departmentis also focused on measuring results – to both provide quality assurance to homeowners and promote improvement. For example, we’repursuing new technologies such as infrared viewers that will show if insulation and caulking were done properly. Post-work inspections are a necessary antidote and deterrent to poor workmanship.To address inconvenience and to reduce costs, we’re launching an innovative effort called “Retrofit Ramp-Up” that will streamline home retrofits by reaching whole neighbourhoods at a time.

    If we can audit and retrofit a significant fraction of the homes on any givenresidential block, the cost, convenience and confidence of retrofit work will be vastly improved. Another goal of this programme is tomake energy efficiency a social norm.To help pay for investments, we’re working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to encourage new financing tools. Forexample, homeowners might pay back energy improvement loans via an assessment on their property tax bill.

    Out-of-pocket expenses areeliminated and energy savings will exceed the increase in property tax. Both the savings and the loan payments would stay with the houseif the owners decide to sell.Click Here for World Economic Forum: Energy Vision Update 2010http://www2.cera.com/docs/WEF_Fall_2009.pdf To find more information on MAAEP, please visit our website at www.MAAEP.org.

    MAAEP will continue to be involved within the energyefficiency community in order to further our mission of promoting renewable and green energy solutions for Missouri.

    We look forward to working together to advance this cause.Sincerely,Tom AppelbaumTom@MAAEP.orgMarc BluestoneMarc@MAAEP.orgByron DeLearByron@MAAEP.orgHarvey FerdmanHarvey@MAAEP.orgDamien FlahertyDamien@MAAEP.orgMatthew PidgeonMatt@MAAEP.orgDavid RabenauDavid@MAAEP.org

  • MAAEP educates, testifies and conducts energy efficiency stakeholder roundtable in Jefferson City

    2 Apr 2010 9:01 am
    MAAEP conducts educational sessions, along with Renew Missouri, on PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) in Missouri House,testifies in Missouri Senate hearing in support of PACE legislation and conducts energy efficiency stakeholder roundtable in Jefferson City on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, March 29, 30, and 31st.
    A comprehensive reporting on these exciting developments will be released on Tuesday of next week!

  • MAAEP board member sent to DC to promote clean energy

    23 Mar 2010 10:38 am
    Business and Political Leaders Bring Missourian Support for Clean Energy to Meeting with Senator McCaskillOrganization: Repower MissouriRelease Date: March 22, 2010Contact: Gretchen Wieland, (816) 305-0861Business and Political Leaders Bring Missourian Support for Clean Energy to Meeting with Senator McCaskillST.

    LOUIS, MO– Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation can bring 29,000 jobs to Missouri and reduce our dependence on foreign oil – something that Tom and LaDonna Appelbaum and Brian Wahby want Senator Claire McCaskill to remember when they visit her this week in Washington, D.C.On Wednesday, Tom Appelbaum, an attorney, LaDonna Appelbaum, a small business owner, and Brian Wahby, a local political leader, will meet with Senator McCaskill on Capitol Hill to share the views of everyday Missourians about the benefits of clean energy and climate legislation to Missouri.“As a small business owner, I know clean energy jobs can help revive the Missouri economy and put us back to work,” LaDonna Appelbaum said.

    “That’s why I count myself among the thousands of Missourians who support clean energy, and it is why I am flying to Washington this week to tell our senators.”Wahby and the Appelbaums were a part of a ground breaking multimedia campaign centered around The Repower Wall, an interactive online destination, where more than 55,000 people and businesses have uploaded messages supporting a transition to clean energy.

    Messages from The Repower Wall, including the Appelbaums and Mr. Wahby, are also a part of an innovative new grassroots-driven television advertising campaign that provides everyday Missourians with the tools to make their voices heard in livings rooms throughout the state and in the nation’s capitol.

    By including video messages from The Repower Wall in television ads, the Climate Protection Action Fund’s Repower Missouri campaign is amplifying the voices that leaders in Washington, D.C. need to hear – their constituents. And these are the voices calling for immediate action on clean energy.“It is important for Senator McCaskill to know just how important passing comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation is for the people of St. Louis and for every Missouri resident,” Wahby said. “This week, I’m helping to put power where it belongs, putting front and center the voices of everyday working Missourians to their leaders in Washington.

    ”Participant Biographies:•LaDonna Appelbaum is a small business owner from St. Louis, Mo.•Tom Appelbaum is an attorney in St. Louis, Mo. and an executive board member of the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals, an association of energy assessors and green energy experts who perform energy audits and recommend energy efficient upgrades to save residents and business owners money.•Brian Wahby serves as the chairman of the St.

    Louis City Democratic Central Committee, as well as Missouri’s Delegate-at-Large to the Democratic National Committee.Mr. Wahby and Mr. and Mrs. Appelbaum are available for interview by phone and in-person. Please contact Repower Missouri Communications Director Gretchen Wieland at (816) 305-0861 or gretchen.wieland@climateprotect.org for booking.

  • EPA Issues Second Annual Ranking of U.S. Cities with the Most Energy Efficient Buildings

    23 Mar 2010 10:36 am
    List shows continued growth in saving money and energyWASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest number of energy efficient buildings that earned EPA’s Energy Star in 2009.

    The list is headed by Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Houston, Lakeland, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta and New York. Energy efficiency saves building owners money and fights climate change."These cities see the importance of taking action on climate change," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

    “Communities from Los Angeles to Louisville are reducing greenhouse gases and cutting energy bills with buildings that have earned EPA's Energy Star."EPA first issued its ranking of cities with the most Energy Star labeled buildings last year.

    This year, Los Angeles remains in first place; the District of Columbia picks up second; Denver and Chicago move into the top five; and Lakeland and New York City are new to the top 10.Continuing the impressive growth of the past several years, in 2009 nearly 3,900 commercial buildings earned the Energy Star, representing annual savings of more than $900 million in utility bills and more than 4.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

    Since EPA awarded the first Energy Star to a building in 1999, nearly 9,000 buildings across America have earned the Energy Star as of the end of 2009, representing more than a 40 percent increase over last year’s total. Overall annual utility savings have climbed to nearly $1.6 billion and greenhouse gas emissions equal to the emissions of more than 1 million homes a year have been prevented.

    Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for 17 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of over $100 billion per year. EPA awards the Energy Star to commercial buildings that perform in the top 25 percent of buildings nationwide compared to similar buildings. Thirteen types of buildings can earn the Energy Star, including schools, hospitals, office buildings, retail stores and supermarkets.

    View a list of the Top 25 Cities in 2009 with Energy Star labeled buildings: http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/downloads/2009_Top_25_cities_chart.pdfAccess EPA’s real-time registry of all Energy Star labeled buildings 1999-present:http://energystar.gov/buildinglistLearn more about earning the Energy Star for commercial buildings:http://energystar.gov/labeledbuildings

  • Show Me Progress featured piece on MAAEP

    22 Mar 2010 10:15 am
    We've already successfully tried cap and trade.It's a shame how the media still bombards us with the bad news about acid rain. Not. That is so last century. And the reason we were able to curb that problem was that the Clean Air Act instituted a cap and trade system on sulfur. Utility companies analyzed the sulfur content of coal they had contracted to buy, and if it was high, they used that as a reason to void the contract and buy lower sulfur coal elsewhere, thus enabling themselves to sell their sulfur credits on a cap and trade market.

    It worked beautifully.Sure, some coal companies fought the future: spread the idea that acid rain was a myth and that limits on sulfur would break the back of the coal industry.

    Sound familiar? But Arch Coal, headquartered in St. Louis, understood the futility of that course of action. The company dithered over whether to invest in the Powder River Basin, which had low sulfur coal that was easy to extract.

    Eventually, the leadership decided to make that heavy capital investment. It embraced the future instead of fighting the legislation, and that has paid off. Arch is now the number one domestic coal producer and, worldwide, the number two producer.

    Tom Appelbaum, who was a coal geologist when all that was taking place, has since become a lawyer and is working with MAAEP--Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals. Speaking recently at the Creve Coeur Township Democratic Club, he explained that not only will Cap and Trade work to reduce carbon emissions just as a similar system reduced sulfur emissions, it will also, like that older program, reward the forward looking companies--as well as reduce our long term energy costs.

    Coal companies that put money into wind turbines now and oil companies that invest in solar power will reap dividends later. Mass production, whether you're talking solar cells or Model Ts, reduces the cost of production per unit.

    But first, that initial heavy capital investment has to happen.Appelbaum applied that same lesson to a new kid on the clean energy block: highly efficient fuel cells being produced by a Silicon Valley company, Bloom Energy. Some of the heaviest hitters in the corporate world--FedEx, Wal-Mart, Staples, eBay and Google--have bought and used them in the last eighteen months.

    The Bloom Boxes will be available to businesses and homeowners as a way to cut energy costs in half and take themselves off the energy grid.Sridhar [Bloom's CEO] said the box is mostly a collection of fuel cells that use oxygen and fuel to generate electricity without creating any emissions.

    Oxygen is drawn into one side of the cell, while a fuel, such as a natural gas or bio-fuel, is drawn into the other side. The two combine within the cell and produce a chemical reaction that creates energy without any burning or combustion.

    In the 60 Minutes interview, Sridhar said that he's hoping to see Bloom Boxes become a common fixture in backyards and basements within 10 years. He estimated the cost of systems for individual homes at about $3,000.Pretty exciting, right? Yes, though, like all the other clean energy alternatives, it will require that heavy initial investment.

    So Appelbaum foresees that the cost of dealing with climate change and weaning ourselves off foreign oil will be steep at first but that it will flatten out over time. Eventually alternative sources will:"drive energy costs down. Dramatically. Now, in the interim, if there is an increase in energy costs, we've got thirty percent in our back pocket, and it's called energy efficiency.And that's where MAAEP comes in.

    It is an association of professionals, a trade group consisting of private enterprise, non-profits and government agencies that mean to encourage energy efficiency upgrades in Missouri homes and businesses while making sure that the standards in this burgeoning business remain high.Appelbaum's assertion that we could save thirty percent on our energy costs is impressive.

    MAAEP intends to make more Missourians aware of that possibility and to show them how to get help paying for it. More on all that in the next posting.http://www.showmeprogress.com/diary/4287/weve-already-successfully-tried-cap-and-trade

  • FACT SHEET: HOMESTAR ENERGY EFFICIENCY RETROFIT PROGRAM

    2 Mar 2010 11:47 am
    THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press SecretaryFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 2, 2010 FACT SHEET: HOMESTAR ENERGY EFFICIENCY RETROFIT PROGRAMWASHINGTON--In his State of the Union address, the President called on Congress to pass a program of incentives for homeowners who make energy efficiency investments in their homes.

    Today, while touring a training facility at Savannah Technical College, the President outlined more details of a new “HOMESTAR” program that would help create jobs by encouraging American families to invest in energy saving home improvements.

    Consistent with the President’s call for a HOMESTAR program, the Senate Democratic leadership included a proposal of this kind as part of their Jobs Agenda released on February 4, 2010. The President looks forward to continuing to work with Members of Congress, business, environmental and labor leaders to enact a HOMESTAR program into law.

    Background on the HOMESTAR programWith unemployment in the construction sector near 25% and with substantial underutilized capacity in our manufacturing sector, the HOMESTAR program has the potential to jumpstart our economic recovery by boosting demand for energy efficiency products and installation services.

    For middle-class families, this program will help them save hundreds of dollars a year in energy costs while improving the comfort and value of their most important investment – their homes. In addition, the program would help reduce our economy’s dependence on oil and support the development of an energy efficiency services sector in our economy.

    Key components of the HOMESTAR Program include:•Rebates delivered directly to consumers: Like the Cash for Clunkers program, consumers would be eligible for direct HOMESTAR rebates at the point of sale for a variety of energy-saving investments in their homes.

    A broad array of vendors, from small independent building material dealers, large national home improvement chains, energy efficiency installation professionals and utility energy efficiency programs (including rural utilities) would market the rebates, provide them directly to consumers and then be reimbursed by the federal government. •$1,000 - $1,500 Silver Star Rebates: Consumers looking to have simple upgrades performed in their homes would be eligible for 50% rebates up to $1,000 - $1,500 for doing any of a straightforward set of upgrades, including: insulation, duct sealing, water heaters, HVAC units, windows, roofing and doors.

    Under Silver Star, consumers can chose a combination of upgrades for rebates up to a maximum of $3,000 per home. Rebates would be limited to the most energy efficient categories of upgrades—focusing on products made primarily in the United States and installed by certified contractors. •$3000 Gold Star Rebates: Consumers interested in more comprehensive energy retrofits would be eligible for a $3,000 rebate for a whole home energy audit and subsequent retrofit tailored to achieve a 20% energy savings in their homes. Consumers could receive additional rebate amounts for energy savings in excess of 20%.

    Gold Star would build on existing whole home retrofit programs, like EPA’s successful Home Performance with Energy Star program. •Oversight to Ensure Quality Installations: The program would require that contractors be certified to perform efficiency installations.

    Independent quality assurance providers would conduct field audits after work is completed to ensure proper installation so consumers receive energy savings from their upgrades. States would oversee the implementation of quality assurance to ensure that the program was moving the industry toward more robust standards and comprehensive energy retrofit practices.

    •Support for financing: The program would include support to State and local governments to provide financing options for consumers seeking to make efficiency investments in their homes. This will help ensure that consumers can afford to make these investments.

    The program will result in the creation of tens of thousands of jobs while achieving substantial reductions in energy use – the equivalent of the entire output of three coal-fired power plants each year. Consumers in the program are anticipated to save between $200 - $500 per year in energy costs, while improving the comfort and value of their homes.BACKGROUND ON PARTICIPANTS IN TODAY’S PRESIDENTIAL EVENT •Business Leaders Larry Laseter, President of Masco Home Services. Masco is a Fortune 150 company specializing in products and services for the home building and home improvement business, including windows and doors, installation, and contracting. After being hit particularly hard by the recession (40% reduction in workforce over a several year period), Masco created Masco Home Services (MHS) a year ago with the intent to provide residential energy efficiency retrofits to American households. Laseter is a Georgia resident, and MHS will open a Home Performance branch in Atlanta in May.

    Mike Lawrence, Vice President and General Manager for Insulation Systems, Johns Manville. Johns Manville is a leading manufacturer and marketer of insulation and roofing materials for commercial, industrial, and residential applications. Johns Manville is based in Denver, CO and has manufacturing facilities in Georgia as well as California, Montana, Arizona, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, Texas, and New Jersey.o Mark Andrews, CEO, North America, Knauf Insulation. Knauf Mark was named to a newly created North American CEO position in January 2010.

    Knauf’s US headquarters is in Shelbyville Indiana, and Knauf has manufacturing facilities in Indiana, Alabama, and California. •Local Efficiency Contractorso Patrick Shay, Green Swap. Patrick is an architect and co-founder of Green Sweep, an energy efficiency company that works with residential, commercial and industrial customers on cost saving clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades. Pat is also a Chatham County Commissioner and chair of the Chatham Environmental Forum, which is addressing energy, climate and other sustainability issues in the Savannah Chatham area. Howard Feldman, Costal Green Building Solutions.

    Howard is a co-founder of Coastal Green Building Solutions. He is a builder, renovator and a certified RESNET HERS rater, which means he evaluates homes and businesses for energy efficiency opportunities and upgrades. Howard’s company works in both Georgia and South Carolina. In addition to Patrick Shay and Howard Feldman, several other Savannah-area contractors and small businesses who would create jobs if this program were passed are in attendance.###

  • Energy professionals organize statewide across Missouri

    12 Feb 2010 8:08 am
    February 10, 2010, Kansas City -- The Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (www.MAAEP.org) held its second organizational meeting for professional members yesterday at Kansas City's Metropolitan Energy Center training facility (www.kcenergy.org).

    Participants included representatives from Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Sustainable Solutions, Hayes Company, AB May, US Environmental Protection Agency, Green Cat, Hishaw Construction, Crowder College, Performance Plus Homes and many other energy efficiency businesses and related home contractors.

    MAAEP represents professionals working in the fast-growing energy efficiency industry. A confluence of benefits derived from energy efficiency upgrades on existing homes and construction are providing impetus for the industry's current expansion into the mainstream.

    Job creation, energy independence, home improvement and sustainability are all positive outcomes derived from energy efficiency.Despite a lack of substantive government incentives in the last decade, the clean-energy economy has grown steadily.

    A recent Pew Report found that job growth in the clean-energy economy outperformed total job growth in 38 states and the District of Columbia between 1998 and 2007.In the Midwest, Kansas City is leading in clean-energy and energy efficiency thanks to several cost cutting programs.

    "The Home Performance with Energy Star rebate program is working with Kansas City Power & Light and Missouri Gas Energy to provide home owners with rebates of up to $1200 when properties are improved with efficiency upgrades," explained Ramona Schwartz of the Metropolitan Energy Center.

    "We've had over 200 completed contracts since our program began -- with many more in the pipeline."Issues specific to the energy efficiency industry were shared in an open forum. Martin Tennant, with Hathmore Technologies, expressed concern for maintaining best practices and standards in the quickly evolving energy efficiency industry, "Without seriously supporting systems that assure adequate control and accountability - both before and after our work is completed – the home energy efficiency industry invites long-term damage to customer faith and satisfaction. Currently, our market presence is relatively diffuse and spread out, but as energy efficiency work becomes more popular, it is vitally important that we commit to continual quality improvement in our profession.

    "Last Wednesday, MAAEP joined Renew Missouri and 150 concerned citizens in lobbying legislators in Jefferson City calling attention to revenue neutral initiatives making energy efficiency retrofits affordable for home owners. "The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program finances the cost of efficiency improvements over 15-20 years, and with savings gained from lower monthly utility bills, home owners immediately put cash into their pockets while increasing the comfort and value of their homes," explained attorney and former energy geologist Tom Appelbaum.Rick Westmoreland, of Liberty Homes, cautioned on shifting attention from existing programs such as Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM) while promoting new pilots such as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE).

    EEMs were first introduced in 1980, expanded nationally in 1995 and are currently sponsored by all mortgage programs insured by the US Federal government. Like the PACE pilot, Energy Efficient Mortgages allow home-owners to finance efficiency upgrades over a longer term (15-30 years) defraying upfront costs.

    Barry Dicker of Decent Energy, spoke to the necessity and timeliness of energy pros getting organized, "I see MAAEP playing a role in helping efficiency businesses focus on positive ways in going forward. By operating as an information clearing house to spread awareness of emerging programs and initiatives, MAAEP can help us position ourselves to capitalize on these new opportunities.

    We can have a much more significant impact by acting collectively, than any of us can individually."The Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals will be holding additional organizational meetings in Springfield and Columbia in early 2010.http://www.examiner.com/x-24957-Progressive-Examiner~y2010m2d12-Energy-professionals-organize-statewide-across-Missouri

  • Special Invite for an Organizational Meeting

    5 Feb 2010 9:55 am
    Special Invite for an Organizational MeetingDear Energy Professional,The purpose of this letter is to invite you to attend the kickoff organizational meeting for the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals ( www.MAAEP.org ) on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at the Training Center at the Metropolitan Energy Center from 5:30pm-7:00pm.We will discuss the Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals, new opportunities developing in energy efficiency and what benefits MAAEP can provide for its members and the emerging energy efficiency industry. This meeting will include good networking, interactive dialog and brainstorming to develop productive programs for our membership. We look forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts about how to move our business forward and address any problems or specific issues you may have encountered.Please join us on February 9th to learn more about this professional association and help contribute to its formation.LOCATION: The Training Center at the Metropolitan Energy CenterADDRESS: 3800 Paseo Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64109TIME: Tuesday, February 9th, 5:30-7:00pmFor directions, please call: 816-531-7283If you have any questions about this organizational meeting, or MAAEP in general, please contact Harvey Ferdman at Harvey@MAAEP.org . We hope to see you on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010.Sincerely, The MAAEP Team.

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    4 Feb 2010 4:13 pm
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  • Energy efficiency equals job creation and home improvement

    4 Feb 2010 4:11 pm
    MAAEP participated in the Missouri Votes Conservation lobby day and press conference on Wednesday, February 3rd in Jefferson City.For more info copy this link into your browser: http://tinyurl.com/yc5lxld

  • MAAEP to present at Missouri Votes Conservation Lobby Day

    21 Jan 2010 4:13 pm
    Help Missouri Go GreenConservation Lobby Day: Feb 3, 2010If you care about Missouri’s environment and want to make a difference, we need your help! Join MVC, the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Missouri Sierra Club and citizens from across Missouri as we convene at the state Capitol for Conservation Lobby Day on Wednesday, February 3, 2010.

    This is an important opportunity to share your passion for the environment with state legislators, and have a big impact on environmental policies affecting Missouri.Each year, Missourians gather at the capitol to make their conservation values known - from environmentalists, scientists, students and business owners to hunters, anglers and farmers. On Lobby Day, advocate for one of these important issues:• Increase Energy Efficiency & Renewables: improve Missouri’s embarrassing energy efficiency ranking and expand usage of renewable energy.• Protect Water Quality: ensure adequate monitoring and enforcement to protect Missouri’s streams and lakes.• Maintain State Parks: ensure funding for vitally-needed capital improvements to maintain Missouri’s excellent parks.• Build Green with LEED Certification: make buildings more energy efficient through green building standards.Become part of the political process, and add your voice to others in Missouri's environmental community. By speaking out with a unified voice for environmental values, we can help shape the future of our state.There are other upcoming opportunities to be an advocate for a better Missouri.Register to attend: http://www.moenviron.org/Lobbyday.aspx

  • Demand for upgraded energy efficiency at home is weak

    20 Jan 2010 10:24 am
    By Julie Schmit, USA TODAYThe recession-driven drop in new home construction is forcing more companies to seek work upgrading the energy efficiency of U.S. homes. But consumer demand remains weak because of the cost and the dearth of strong financial incentives, which President Obama is now pushing Congress to provide.

    GREEN HOUSE: Our online envrironmental community"The big companies are coming to this area. But it's been difficult to get consumers to dig into their pockets," says Larry Zarker, CEO of the Building Performance Institute trade association.In December, President Obama declared insulation "sexy" and pressed Congress to provide incentives to homeowners to improve home energy efficiency.

    Supporters call the idea "cash for caulkers" because it's similar to the government's "cash for clunkers" rebates that sparked auto sales last summer.Supporters say incentives, matched by homeowner dollars, would drive energy retrofits, and the U.S. would cut energy use while putting construction workers back to work.

    A home retrofit can range from minimal (sealing leaky windows and holes) to the involved (adding insulation or solar water heaters, changing appliances or windows, or redesigning duct work).

    Historically, about 150,000 U.S. homes have received energy upgrades annually, most via government programs for low-income Americans, estimates Kevin Pranis, research director for Change to Win, a labor union coalition. Some 100 million U.S. homes could use upgrades, Pranis says.

    "We look at this as rescuing an industry," says Matt Golden, co-founder of Recurve, a San Francisco-based energy audit and retrofit firm. Recurve has been in the business five years, but other companies are stepping up home energy retrofit efforts, including:•Masco Home Services. A subsidiary of home improvement and building products supplier Masco, it recently opened offices in Michigan and New Hampshire to do $99 home energy audits and the follow-up work.

    Masco Home Services expects to expand the service to 20 cities within months, President Larry Laseter says.•Grupe. The central California home builder, at the peak of the region's housing boom in 2005, built 400 homes. In 2009, it built none.

    Last year, Grupe launched a home energy retrofit business, Green Home Solutions. "It could be a large market," Chief Financial Officer Mark Fischer says.•Owens Corning. The leading insulation maker estimates that 80 million U.S. homes are underinsulated.

    It recently launched new efficiency products, including a sealing system for home cracks and joints. CEO Michael Thaman says job-creation efforts by Congress should include money to cut home energy use. "It has the biggest payback," he says.

  • Economic Stimulus Promoted through Energy Efficiency Organization

    5 Jan 2010 10:37 am
    St. Louis, MO – December 15, 2009 – The Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP), a newly formed trade group, held its inaugural organizational meeting for membership and affiliates last Thursday.

    Local energy professionals representing private enterprise, non-profits and government participated including Mo. Dept. of Natural Resources, Botanical Garden’s Earthways Center, Mosby Building Arts and other industry leaders.“The business of making Missouri more energy efficient and saving folks on energy costs is set to grow tremendously in the near future as game-changing Federal and State initiatives come online,” explained Marc Bluestone of Home Green Home, a local energy efficiency contractor and consultant.

    “Pilots such as the Property Assessed Clean Energy program (PACE) and economic stimulus efforts will soon make energy audits and retrofits on homes as commonplace as the safety and emissions test for your car.

    ”In October, the Department of Energy announced $2.7 billion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for energy efficiency efforts nationwide, with tens of millions earmarked locally in programs such as the Mo. Department of Natural Resources’ “Energize Missouri Communities” which include block grants to fund efficiency and weatherization projects in public buildings, private business and residential structures.

    “The Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP) is advancing a program to distinguish high-efficiency, high-performance homes for home buyers and their Realtors,” said attorney Tom Appelbaum.

    “Studies show these homes retain their value and sell faster than the non-efficient, non-retrofitted homes, and with programs like PACE the cost of these green upgrades can be amortized over the life of a home, making the cost-benefit savings positive from day one.”MAAEP is working with green consultant James Trout and MyGreenToolkit.com to raise awareness of energy efficiency benefits to REALTORS and their customers, “With MAAEP and MyGreenToolkit.com we empower Realtors and home owners with information and statistics clearly showing the value in improving their homes and making them more energy efficient.

    ”At Thursday’s meeting, Damien Flaherty of EnergyAudits.com emphasized the role that MAAEP fills in helping industry professionals contend with the quickly changing landscape of energy efficiency.

    Flaherty maintains a national database of certified Energy Auditors, Energy Raters and Home Performance Contractors and has conducted several surveys to identify issues particular to the efficiency business, “Our professionals are setting standards for best practices and MAAEP will politically advocate on behalf of this emerging industry to promote home value, economic recovery and consumer interests.

    ”MAAEP board member Harvey Ferdman spoke about a convergence of issues making clean energy and energy conservation an idea whose time has come. “Buildings account for nearly 40% of our nation’s carbon emissions, but their energy efficiency can be improved by 30% or more. These savings will have a very real impact on reducing our carbon footprint and lessening pollution. Every single home improved puts our community on a more sustainable tract.”“Every building constructed by the end of 2009, conservatively, will make up 85% of all buildings in 2030; consequently, remediating existing homes and offices is where most of the efficiency benefits will be gained,” explained board member Byron DeLear.

    “Because construction styles vary so greatly, the energy efficiency analysis, consultation and upgrade must be uniquely tailored for each property. This process is directed and carried out by accredited energy auditors and home performance contractors; a new “green job” workforce that can’t be outsourced.

    ”In addition to St. Louis, MAAEP will be conducting a series of organizational meetings throughout the State of Missouri in early 2010 in Kansas City, Columbia and Springfield. The Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals is a public benefit non-profit corporation registered with the State of Missouri on July 6th, 2009.Thursday’s MAAEP meeting was sponsored by Fiberlite Technologies, Inc., an insulation manufacturer, Matt Pidgeon of Soar Advertising & Design, Home Green Home and special thanks to Mattingly Brewery for use of their conference room.###For more information regarding MAAEP please contact Matt Pidgeon at (314) 322-1077 Matt@MAAEP.org or Harvey Ferdman at Harvey@MAAEP.org or visit their website at www.MAAEP.orghttp://sustainstl.org/economic-stimulus-promoted-though-energy-efficiency-organization/