NASEO News
FEDERAL UPDATE
DOE Selects NASEO
to Convene Zero-Energy Commercial
Buildings Consortium
NASEO will convene the Zero-Energy
Commercial Buildings Consortium in order
to support the U.S. Department of
Energy's (DOE's) Net-Zero Energy
Commercial Building Initiative. In
turn, the Consortium will support DOE,
DOE national laboratories, and the
Commercial Building Energy Alliances and
Commercial Building Partners in
achieving affordable and marketable
net-zero energy commercial buildings in
all climate zones by 2025. The
Consortium will provide access to
technical expertise, communicate the
emergence of new technologies to the
commercial building community, and
promote the demonstration of
high-performance building technologies.
A steering committee made up of NASEO
members and lighting, window, and
heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning suppliers will outline and
drive the Consortium's goals and
objectives. Please
click here for the full story as
well as links to the Net-Zero Energy
Commercial Building Initiative and the
Zero Energy Commercial Buildings
Consortium websites.
Senate Climate
Bill Emerges from Energy and Public
Works Committee
The Senate Environment and Public
Works (EPW) Committee reported out the
Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act
(CEJAPA, S. 1733) with 11 Democrats in
favor and one, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT),
against. All seven Republicans boycotted
the EPW markup of CEJAPA, arguing that
they needed a full economic analysis of
the bill by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) before they could propose
amendments. As the EPW Committee
reported out the legislation, Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said
he would ask the EPA to spend five weeks
reviewing the potential costs of the
bill before bringing it to the full
Senate floor. Please
click here for the full story by the
Environmental and Energy Study
Institute.
National Council
on Electricity Policy Releases
Non-Transmission Alternatives Report
The National Council on Electricity
Policy's report, "Updating the Electric
Grid: An Introduction to
Non-Transmission Alternatives for
Policymakers," offers details on
transmission alternatives, such as
end-use efficiency and distributed
generation. It also presents policy
options and case studies that highlight
opportunities for non-transmission
alternatives (NTAs) to offer
improvements within a service territory.
By freeing up capacity without adding
physical transmission lines, NTAs have
the potential to reduce overall system
costs while bypassing issues of public
acceptance, relatively long permitting
and siting processes, and high costs
involved in the traditional building of
new transmission, the report said.
End-use efficiency, demand response,
new generation--both distributed and
central--and storage technologies are
outlined as NTA options in the National
Council paper. Using one or a
combination of NTAs may delay or
eliminate the need for new transmission
and improve the reliability and reduce
congestion within a given jurisdiction.
The National Council on Electricity
Policy is a unique collaboration of
state and federal electricity officials.
Members include the National Association
of State Energy Officials, the National
Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners, the National Council on
State Legislatures, the National
Governors Association – Center for Best
Practices, the National Association of
Clean Air Agencies, and federal
partners, the Department of Energy, the
Environmental Protection Agency, and the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The mission of the National Council is
to enable better coordination between
federal and state entities responsible
for electricity policy and programs.
Visit
www.ncouncil.org to access the
report and find out more about the
National Council.
"On-Bill"
Financing Report Prepared for the
National Small Business Association Just
Released
The National Small Business
Association (NSBA) recently released,
"On-Bill Financing: Helping Small
Business Reduce Emissions and Energy Use
While Improving Profitability." The
newly released report looks at the
importance of small businesses to the
U.S. economy and to any U.S. strategy to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The
report focuses on a method to not only
help small businesses reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions, but to help
them upgrade their lighting,
refrigeration and other energy-consuming
equipment while simultaneously
increasing their profitability. The
method uses financing for
energy-efficiency measures that is
described as on-bill financing. Please
click here to view the full report.
EVENTS AND WEBINARS
Mark Your
Calendars: 2010 Energy Outlook
Conference, February 1-4, 2010
NASEO and ASERTTI will host the 2010
Energy Outlook Conference in Washington,
D.C., February 1-4, at the Fairmont
Hotel. Please
click here to visit the event
website for more information and to
register online. A preliminary agenda
will be available soon. Please continue
to check the website for updates.
Webinar Series
on Evaluation, Measurement, and
Verification (EM&V) – November 17, 2009
The National Climate Action Plan for
Energy Efficiency and EPA's State
Climate & Energy Program announce the
first in a new webinar series focused on
addressing the needs of state agency
staff working to develop and refine
their approach to evaluation,
measurement, and verification (EM&V) of
publicly funded energy efficiency
programs. The first webinar will be held
on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 from 2:00
-3:30 PM EST. To register for Getting
Started with EM&V: Key Steps, Resources,
and Examples, please
click here. For more information or
questions about this Webinar series,
please contact Niko Dietsch at (202)
343-9299 or
dietsch.nikolaas@epa.gov.
DOE Webinar on
PACE Financing Programs – November 18,
2009
On Thursday, November 18, the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) will host the
second in a series of webinars to
support ARRA recipients who are
launching energy efficiency and
renewable energy financing programs.
There has been plenty of buzz about
Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE)
financing programs – but what has been
the experience on the ground? PACE
programs enable local governments to
raise money through the issuance of
bonds or other sources of capital to
fund energy efficiency and renewable
energy projects. The financing is repaid
over a set number of years through a
"special tax" or "assessment" on the
property tax bill of only those property
owners who voluntarily choose to
participate in the program. There is
little or no up-front cost to the
property owner, and if the property is
sold before the end of the repayment
period, the new owner inherits both the
repayment obligation and the financed
improvements.
This webinar will describe how PACE
programs work, and allow you to hear
from the program managers on the front
lines who have launched the first PACE
programs in the country. Please
click here to register for the
webinar.
National
Council on Electricity Policy/NARUC
Climate Conference, December 2-4, 2009
The National Association of
Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)
and the National Council on Electricity
Policy will co-sponsor the Utility of
the Future in a Carbon-Constrained World
Conference from December 2-4, 2009. The
conference will begin by examining the
potential energy landscape in 2030 and
then delve into the possible paths that
policymakers and utilities may choose to
follow over the next few decades. You
will hear from the regulators,
lawmakers, industry officials, consumer
advocates, and other utility executives
responsible for getting the nation from
the status quo to the new paradigm.
Sessions include "Price Effects of a
Carbon Policy," "Game-Changing
Policies," and "A Look at Baseload, the
Resources and the Concept Itself." For
more information on this conference and
to register, please
click here. Please note that
registration is capped at 200
participants, so be sure to reserve your
spot soon!
STATE AND LOCAL NEWS
Pennsylvania
College Expands Weatherization Training
Center
Pennsylvania College of Technology
unveiled its expanded Weatherization
Training Center, showcasing a facility
that now has the opportunity to educate
more people on the installation of
energy efficiency and renewable energy
technology. The training facility is one
of the first nationwide to expand its
operations in response to a growing
demand fueled by the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act support, college
officials said. Before the expansion,
the center trained 250 to 350 people per
year, and now it is expected to exceed
1,000 men and women in the coming year.
To read more about the story, please
click here to visit the Philadelphia
Inquirer.
Arizona Geological
Survey to Examine Prospects of
Geothermal
The U.S. Department of Energy
recently awarded $338 million in grants
to advance development of geothermal
energy — using the heat trapped in water
beneath the Earth's surface to generate
electricity or heat buildings. The
Arizona Geological Survey (AGS) will
head up a $17.8 million project to
gather information about geothermal
resources from individual states and
incorporate it into a national data
system. To learn more about how the AGS
will be administering the funds, please
click here.
South Dakota
Government Leads by Example with Energy
Efficient Renovations
State law requires all new state
building projects to pursue energy
efficiency, but the upcoming renovation
of Capitol Lake Plaza is going above and
beyond. When the building overhaul
begins this December, it won’t only
receive high-efficiency lighting,
low-flow bathroom fixtures and a
geothermal heat pump heating and cooling
system, it also will produce energy of
its own, with solar panels and wind
turbines on the roof. Please
click here to read more about the
renovation project at the Capital
Journal.
North Carolina
State Website to Help Find Second Life
for Biomass Waste
It's like Craigslist for people
looking for food scraps in
industrial-size mounds or used cooking
oil by the drum. A web site launched by
North Carolina state government seeks to
match companies looking to get rid of
tubs of oil and tons of wood chips with
companies that can turn them into
something else. "They can barter, they
can give it away, they can sell it,"
said Tom Rhodes, an environmental
specialist with the state Department of
Environment and Natural Resources. "It's
to keep materials out of the landfill."
To read more on the story at the News
Observer, please
click here. |
