NATIONAL NEWS
SEP, WAP, and Buildings Congressional Briefing: Creating Jobs through
Energy Efficiency
Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-21) will host an energy briefing Tuesday, June 21,
2011 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in the Cannon House Office Building, Room 210.
The briefing, coordinated by NASEO, will describe how state governments and
their private sector partners are implementing energy programs and the economic
development activities associated with them. State officials will discuss
the U.S. State Energy Program (SEP) and the Weatherization Assistance Program
(WAP), and their impact on job creation, energy bill reduction and enhanced
energy security. A private sector representative from Dow Chemical Company will
provide his views on the value of energy efficiency in buildings and the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program, as well as Dow’s work in
the field. Speakers for this event include: Frank Murray, President and
CEO, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; Vaughn Clark,
Director, Community Development, Oklahoma Department of Commerce; and Peter
Molinaro, Vice President Federal and State Government Affairs, The Dow Chemical
Company. This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP
required. For more information, contact Garth Otto at
gotto@naseo.org or call (703) 299-8800 x16.
Senate Testimony on S. 963, S. 1000
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing
on June 9 to receive testimony on bills to promote energy efficiency and
alternative fuel vehicles as described in S. 963, S. 1000, and S. 1001.
NASEO submitted a
letter in support of the Energy Savings and Industrial
Competitiveness Act of 2011 (S.1000) – stressing the importance of the building
energy codes provision (Section 101) contained in the bill, which would spur
major building efficiency improvements by working with states to strengthen
national model building codes to make new homes and commercial buildings more
energy efficient. The testimony of
Ms. Kathleen Hogan,
Ms. Kateri
Callahan,
Mr. Tony Crasi,
Mr. Philip Damiano, and
Mr. Jay Scripter cover S. 963
and S. 1000. The testimony of
Mr. Shane Karr,
Mr. Frank Rusco,
Mr. Kevin
Book, and
Mr. Jonathan Silver cover S. 1001.
Reconstructing Building Codes for Greater Energy Efficiency
A recent article in Governing Magazine discusses how governments are adopting
new and strengthening existing building codes, hoping others will follow their
lead – highlighting an increase in the number of jurisdictions that have
done one of two things over the past few years: adopted the Leadership in Energy
& Environmental Design (LEED) green building standard, mostly for public
buildings, or they have strengthened requirements detailing what materials and
construction techniques new buildings should be using to conserve energy,
primarily through systems for heating, cooling, insulation and lighting. Many
places have done both.
U.S Sets First Regional Energy-Savings Standards for ACs and Furnaces,
Upgrades National Heat Pump Standards
Appliance Standards Awareness Project
A diverse coalition of consumer, manufacturing, and environmental groups
praised new energy efficiency standards just released by the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) establishing the first-ever regional standards for central air
conditioners and furnaces, as well as strengthened national standards for heat
pumps. The new rules are based on a joint recommendation filed with DOE by the
groups in 2009. Once the latest updated standards take effect, a typical
new air conditioner in the South will use about 40% less energy, and a typical
new furnace in the North will use about 20% less than before national standards
were established in the late 1980s. According to DOE’s analysis, the
improvements to the air conditioner and heat pump standards announced today will
save 156 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over 30 years, or about enough to
meet the total electricity needs of all the households in Indiana for three
years, while delivering net savings of more than $4.2 billion to U.S. consumers.
The new furnace standards will save 31 billion therms of natural gas, or about
enough natural gas over 32 years to heat all the homes in New York State for
more than 11 years and save consumers $14.5 billion. DOE posted the
new
rule on their web site.
The Appliance Standards Awareness Project developed an appliance standards
questions and answers
factsheet with additional information.
Five Million Smart Meters are Installed Nationwide
U.S. Department of Energy
More than five million smart meters have been installed nationwide as part of
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded efforts to accelerate
modernization of the U.S. electric grid, DOE reported on June 13. Smart meters
provide utility companies with greater information about how much electricity is
being used throughout their service areas. The meters also give consumers access
to real-time information about their energy consumption, allowing them to make
informed decisions about how they use their electricity. DOE also
announced a plan to create a data map that will allow consumers to contribute
data and information about their electricity provided by their utility
companies. The map will show where quality information is available nationwide
based on voluntary consumer input.
Institute to Hold Hearing on Commercial Building Data Needs
The National Institute of Building Sciences will hold a hearing July 18 in
Washington, D.C., to gather input from building industry participants about
their commercial building data needs. The hearing is in response to recent news
that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will not release the results of
its 2007 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) or complete its
2011 Survey. The hearing will be open to all parties interested in presenting
their views on the state of commercial building related data, current and
anticipated data needs, existing sources of data and potential future data
sources. Participants may submit either written or oral testimony (or both).
Interested parties can download the procedures for the hearing, indicate their
intent to testify and find out how to submit written testimony by visiting the
Institute’s HPB Data
Collection webpage. The hearing itself will be open to all interested
parties to attend. The Institute will generate a report of the findings
following the event. To sign up to receive an emailed copy of the report when it
becomes available, contact nibs@nibs.org with
"HPB Findings" in the subject line.
NASEO NEWS
NASEO Releases RFP for Residential Program Evaluation Contractor
In partnership with the State Energy Offices in Alabama, Massachusetts,
Virginia, and Washington, NASEO is releasing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to
select a program monitoring and evaluation contractor for a multi-state
residential labeling and retrofit project funded through the U.S. State Energy
Program. There will be an optional bidder’s webinar on Thursday, July 7,
2011; 2:00-3:30pm EDT. To register for the webinar, please contact Mandy
Clarke (mclarke@naseo.org). Final
submissions are due July 22, 2011. NASEO anticipates making one award for
an amount not to exceed $505,000. If your office is aware of qualified
firms who might be interested in this opportunity, please feel free to share
this RFP or refer them to NASEO staff at
dlin@naseo.org. More details on this RFP can be found on NASEO’s
website at
www.naseo.org/resources/rfps/4states.
STATE NEWS
Proposal Calls for Big Power Transmission Line Across Iowa
DesMoinesRegister.com
Clean Line Energy Partners has entered its bid to be part of what promoters
hope to be the wind energy equivalent of the interstate oil and gas pipelines
that supported the fossil fuel age in the last century. The Houston-based
company proposes a 500-kilovolt transmission line across northern Iowa into
central Illinois. Clean Line joins two big utility hitters, MidAmerican Energy
and ITC Holdings, which owns and operates the transmission system that serves
Alliant Energy, in the interstate transmission derby.
Oregon School District has New Lights Thanks to Stimulus Funded Project
Oregon Department of Energy
Douglas Educational Services District’s (ESD) 109 staff members work in a
22,000‐square‐foot office that was originally built and used for 30 years as a
grocery store for Roseburg residents. Although remodeled since its grocery
store days, the office lighting left a lot to be desired. Missing the
first round of stimulus funds awarded by the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE),
Douglas ESD was able to take advantage of some of the lighting project awardees
that came in under‐budget. ODOE was able to re-assign some of the funds
and awarded $56,117 in State Energy Plan (SEP) funds to Douglas ESD in September
2010. The stimulus funds and an incentive of $8,926 from the Energy Trust
of Oregon covered the full cost of the lighting replacement to more
energy‐efficient T‐8 lights and new fixtures. The project is expected to
save the district $4,711 a year in electricity charges.
Virginia Governor Signs Eight Clean Energy Bills
Washington Business Journal
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a total of eight bills designed to promote
clean and renewable energy into law this week. Bills signed include one
that directs the State Corporation Commission to consider approval of solar
generation facilities built and operated by utilities and special pricing for
the power they generate, to increase the amount of energy a home or business can
generate with its own alternative power systems, and to provide financial
incentives to companies that manufacture or assemble renewable or nuclear energy
products. Other bills add renewable energy projects to those which the
Virginia Resources Authority may finance, and extend the Clean Fuel Vehicle Job
Creation Tax Credit to 2014.
SOLICITATIONS
Over $1.1 Billion in Federal
Funding Available for State, Local, and Tribal Governments
EPA Greening America’s Capitals – Design Assistance
Letters of Interest Due: June 20, 2011
Eligible Applications: State capital cities
USDA
Rural Energy Assistance Program – Energy Audit and Renewable Energy Development
Assistance – Estimated $2.8 million
Application Due: June 30, 2011
Eligible Applications: Units of state, tribal, or local government and their
instrumentalities; institutions of higher education; rural electric
cooperatives; or a public power entity
Refer to Sol# RDBCP-11-REAP-ENERGYAUDIT
DOE Clean Cities Community Readiness and Planning for Plug-in Electric Vehicles
and Charging Infrastructure – Approximately $5 million
Application Due: July 14, 2011
Eligible Applications: All types of domestic entities except for other federal
agencies, non-DOE Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC)
contractors, and nonprofit organizations that engaged in lobbying activities
after December 31, 1995.
Refer to Sol# DE-FOA-0000451
CDC Community Transformation Grant – Estimated $900 million
Application Due: July 15, 2011
Eligible Applications: State and local government agencies, state and local
nonprofit organizations, federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska
native villages, tribal organizations, urban Indian health programs
DOE SunShot Initiative: Rooftop Solar Challenge to Induce Market Transformation
– Approximately $12.5 million
Application Due: August 31, 2011
Eligible Applications: State or territorial governments; local governments;
consortia made up of regional or statewide teams of local governments, large
single jurisdictions, or Indian tribes; or entities authorized to act on behalf
of a consortium. Entities must represent a total population of 500,000 or
greater.
DOC
Economic Development Administration Public Works, Economic Adjustment, and
Global Climate Change Mitigation Programs Opportunity – Likely ~$25 million
Application Due: Depends on funding cycle; next funding cycle is due September
15, 2011
Eligible Applications: State and local governments, federally recognized tribes,
non-profits, private institutions of higher education
DOE Weatherization Formula Grants – Likely to be approximately $210 million
Application Due: Varies by program year
Eligible Applications: Agencies that administer the WAP program
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