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NASEO News

June 2003

NASEO Presents at NPC Gas Summit and Delivers Recommendations to EERE

Posted: June 26, 2003

On Thursday, June 26, 2003, NASEO's Chairman, John Nunley, made a presentation at the National Petroleum Council’s Natural Gas Summit in Washington, DC. The Natural Gas Summit allowed for an open discussion of problems and solutions and identification of immediate actions to ease short-term natural gas supply constraints. Attendees included representatives from consumer groups, industry, and state and local governments, and experts in energy efficiency and conservation. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham delivered the keynote address. Access John Nunley’s presentation here.

In addition to the presentation at the NPC summit, NASEO provided Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Garman with a set of recommendations for near term actions to be used in mitigating potential natural gas supply problems. The recommendations include: (1) Leading by Example: State-Federal Facility Efficiency and Conservation; (2) Education for Residential Customers on Low-Cost Efficiency Measures; (3) Reduced Space Conditioning and Lighting of Offices Through Telecommuting; (4) Targeted Incentives to Reduce Summer Electric Demand and Winter Heating; (5) Technical Assistance for Gas-Intensive Industries and Businesses; (6) Distributed Energy Resources; and (7) Low-Income Home Energy Assistance. Access the entire letter here.

Evaluating Energy Star Homes in Ohio

Posted: June 26, 2003

The Ohio Department of Development/Office of Energy Efficiency recently contracted with Quantec, LLC to conduct an evaluation of a Batch Test Protocol Pilot in Ohio. Based on the evaluation findings, Ohio believes the Pilot was a success. As demonstrated by the evaluation, sampling, supported by strong programmatic elements, can provide a reliable mechanism for verifying the efficiency of new homes and a basis for awarding the ENERGY STAR™ label. Sampling also significantly reduces the costs, to builders and overall, of verifying home performance. It is OEE’s hope that the Pilot experience and evaluation finding will lead to continued growth in the number of homes built to the higher efficiency levels each year.

The two builders that participated in the Pilot, Avenbury Lakes and M/I Schottenstein, committed to the pilot and their efforts will lead to energy cost savings for Ohio homeowners of well over $7.5 million dollars. These savings will grow as they continue to build ENERGY STAR-labeled homes.

Ohio funded the evaluation through $45,000 of SEP funds and $44,000 of US EPA funds gained through a cooperative effort with the EPA. For additional information on this study, or Ohio’s efforts to promote ENERGY STAR-labeled new homes, please contact Terry Smith (TSmith@odod.state.oh.us) at the Ohio Office of Energy Efficiency.

Energy Secretary/NPC Event and Greenspan’s Testimony Demonstrate Concern Over Natural Gas

Posted: June 16, 2003

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and the National Petroleum Council will host a Natural Gas Summit on June 26, 2003, at the Mayflower hotel in Washington, D.C., to discuss problems and solutions, and identify those actions that can be taken immediately to ease short-term supply constraints. The Natural Gas Summit will bring together representatives from consumer groups, industry, and state and local governments, along with experts in energy efficiency and conservation, for open discussion on this issue. NASEO, a member of the National Petroleum Council, will provide additional information following the meeting. For more information on the meeting, click here.

In a related issue, on June 10, 2003, Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce about the tight gas supply. Mr. Greenspan said, “Working gas in storage is currently at very low levels relative to its seasonal norm because of a colder than average winter and a seeming inability of increased gas well drilling to significantly augment net marketed production. Canada, our major source of imported natural gas, has had little room to expand shipments to the United States, and our limited capacity to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) effectively restricts our access to the world's abundant supplies of gas.”

Mr. Greenspan summarized his testimony saying, “The long-term equilibrium price for natural gas in the United States has risen persistently during the past six years from approximately $2 per million Btu to more than $4.50. The perceived tightening of long-term demand-supply balances is beginning to price some industrial demand out of the market. It is not clear whether these losses are temporary, pending a fall in price, or permanent.”

A transcript of Chairman Greenspan’s testimony is available by clicking here.

State Economies Benefit from Renewable Energy

Posted: June 16, 2003

The Council of State Government’s latest report, “TrendsAlert: Renewable Energy and State Economies”, released June 10, 2003, outlines the potential benefits of renewable energy sector development to state economies and will be valuable to state decision-makers as they consider the future of their states’ energy sectors. The possibility that renewable energy sources could help spur economic development in certain areas of the United States – along with further developing our energy security and improving environmental conditions and public health – provides an interesting and valuable option to policy-makers. Renewable energy sources are already recognized for their potential to help develop our energy security, improve environmental conditions and public health, and control consumer energy costs. The possibility that, in addition to these indirect benefits, renewable energy sources could help spur economic development in certain areas of the United States provides an interesting and valuable option to state policy-makers. To view the full report, click here.

DOE Power Plant/Greenhouse Gas Reduction Solicitation

Posted: June 16, 2003

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a solicitation to award up to $4.5 million over several years for grants for research directed at novel approaches to managing greenhouse gas emissions from electric power plants. DOE said it was particularly interested in proposals that would capture, separate or store carbon emitted form coal-fired plants. Collaborative research projects involving more than one institution are encouraged. For more information on the solicitation (DE-P26-03NT41777) go to http://e-center.doe.gov.

STAC DRAFT Solicitation Issued

Posted: June 9, 2003

On June 5, 2003, the State Technologies Advancement Collaborative (STAC) — an innovative five-year pilot program — issued a draft solicitation for public review and comment. The draft solicitation document and other information about STAC can be obtained at www.naseo.org/stac. STAC is directed by an Executive Committee comprised of representatives of the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), the Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions (ASERTTI), and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and Office of Fossil Energy (FE), as well as one independent member.

The STAC solicitation process is being administered by NASEO on behalf of the STAC Executive Committee. Comments are being sought on the solicitation and accompanying model contract in order to ensure the most effective and efficient solicitation process possible.

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