NATIONAL NEWS
REGISTER NOW: NASEO-ASERTTI Industrial Energy Efficiency and Competitiveness
Workshop
Tuesday, October 4 – Thursday, October 6, 2011
Preliminary Agenda Now Available!
Register today for the Industrial Energy Efficiency and Competitiveness
Workshop from October 4-6, 2011 at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in Cleveland,
Ohio. A
preliminary agenda and
online registration are now available. The workshop is focused on
opportunities for job creation and growth in the industrial sector. The
workshop will be followed by the regular ASERTTI Fall Meeting on October 5-6 at
the same hotel. Industrial Efficiency Workshop session highlights include:
- Industrial Efficiency and Competitiveness - Engine of Job
Creation
- Driving Industrial Implementation - Federal and State
Programs in Action
- Promoting Efficiency and Investments - Making the Case for
Action
- Industrial Assessment Centers - Energy Assessments for
Business and Training the Next Generation of Energy Savvy
Engineers
- RD&D Programs and Industrial Competitiveness Policy
Roundtables
- National Industrial Efficiency Framework
- Outlook for Federal Legislation and Funding for Industrial
Efficiency
Please contact the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, 216-696-5600, or Marriott
reservations, 800-228-9280, to make your sleeping room reservations.
Reservations must be made by Monday, September 19, 2011. Be sure to mention
the Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions
(ASERTTI) to receive the group rate.
REGISER NOW: Winter Fuels Outlook Conference 2011-2012
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Preliminary Agenda Now Available!
Register today for the 2011 – 2012 Winter Fuels Outlook Conference, hosted by
the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the National
Association of State Energy Officials. This important supply and
demand forecast event will be held on Wednesday, October 12, 2011, from 7:30
a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at The Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC
20001.
The conference will address global oil supply uncertainty, and the effects of
projected winter weather on the demand for heating and key transportation fuels.
A range of market factors that may impact the supply, distribution and prices of
petroleum, natural gas and electricity this winter will be discussed in great
detail by some the nation’s leading energy data and forecasting experts.
This important annual event helps to inform the entire energy policy and
business community, trade associations, federal and state agencies, policy
makers, and consumer groups about the current and anticipated energy supply and
demand balances and outlook for prices. This year’s conference includes a
presentation on EIA’s Winter Fuels Outlook, as well as presentations from
well-known industry representatives and energy experts who will provide their
views on factors that will affect energy markets this winter in the United
States and globally. A
preliminary agenda and
online registration are now available.
LEED Rating System Development – Comment Deadline Approaching
On Monday, August 1, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) opened the
second public comment period for the proposed update to its LEED green building
rating system, coined LEED 2012. The comment period, which will close on
September 14, 2011, is the next step in the continuous improvement process and
on-going development of the LEED program. The drafts currently available
for public comment feature updated language and scorecards, and include
responses to comments with points associated with all credits. Members of
the public can comment on any changes made since the first comment period, which
ran from Nov. 8, 2010 until Jan. 19, 2011.
Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee
Mark: $50M SEP, $174M WAP
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
approved FY'12 funding legislation this week that would provide $50 million for
the U.S. State Energy Program (SEP), and $174 million for the Weatherization
Assistance Program (WAP). The bill will now move to the full Appropriations
Committee for consideration. It appears very likely that a
Continuing Resolution will be required for the fiscal year beginning on October
1, 2011. Within the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy (EERE) accounts, the Industrial Technologies Program received
$96 million; the Building Technologies Program received $210.5 million; the
Federal Energy Management Program received $30 million; Tribal Energy received
$10 million; and Vehicles Technology received $319 million. This is almost
exactly equal to the $1.8 billion in FY'11 for EERE. The House-passed
funding level for the overall bill is lower and the EERE accounts in that bill
are $1.3 billion. Following are other overall funding amounts in the Senate
bill:
- Energy and Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs would
receive $1.796 billion, the same as fiscal year 2011, to advance
solar, biomass, and vehicle technologies.
- Electricity and Energy Reliability would receive $141
million, the same as fiscal year 2011, to support renewable
energy integration into the electric transmission grid.
- The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) would
receive $250 million, $70 million more than fiscal year 2011, to
develop high-risk, but promising future energy technologies.
- The Office of Science would receive $4.843 billion, the same
as fiscal year 2011, to focus on breakthroughs in energy
applications and develop the next-generation high performance
computing systems.
- Fossil Energy would receive $259 million, which is $186
million below fiscal year 2011.
- The Energy Information Administration would receive $105
million, which is $10 million above fiscal year 2011.
- The Strategic Petroleum Reserve would receive $193
million, an increase of $70 million above fiscal year 2011.
NASEO urges you to contact your Congressional delegations (both House and
Senate) as soon as possible to support the higher funding levels for SEP and WAP
– at least $50 million for SEP and $174 million for WAP (House provided $25
million for SEP and $33 million for WAP. Please notify NASEO regarding
your communications with Senate staff, and if you have any questions, please
contact Jeff Genzer at JCG@dwgp.com or David
Terry at DTerry@naseo.org.
Statements by President Obama & Administrator
Jackson on the Withdrawal of the Draft Ozone National Ambient Air Quality
Standards
On September 2, 2011,
President Obama and
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson both released statements regarding
President Obama’s request on September 2 to Administrator Jackson to withdraw
the proposal of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
Administrator Jackson has pledged to revisit the ozone standard, in compliance
with the Clean Air Act.
China Benefits as U.S. Solar Industry Withers
The New York Times
The bankruptcies of three American solar power companies in the last month
have left China’s industry with a dominant sales position — almost three-fifths
of the world’s production capacity — and rapidly declining costs. Some
American, Japanese and European solar companies still have a technological edge
over Chinese rivals, but seldom a cost advantage, according to industry
analysts. Loans at very low rates from state-owned banks in Beijing, cheap
or free land from local and provincial governments across China, huge economies
of scale and other cost advantages have transformed China from a minor player in
the solar power industry just a few years ago into the main producer of an
increasingly competitive source of electricity. Analysts say that two
American companies remain strongly placed. One is First Solar, the largest
American manufacturer, which uses a different technology but has its biggest
factory in Malaysia. The other, SunPower, is much smaller but is an industry
leader in the efficiency with which its panels convert sunlight into
electricity, so that they sell at a premium to Chinese panels. But with
Beijing heavily supporting its industry, the Chinese companies are forging
ahead.
STATE NEWS
Illinois Announces Start of Home Heating Assistance Enrollment
KFVS12.com
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Office of
Energy Assistance announced that seniors and people with disabilities can begin
applying for winter heating assistance through the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP) on September 1. Officials say for the first
time, some LIHEAP clients will have the option of choosing between the
traditional Direct Vendor Payment (DVP) plan or the new Percentage of Income
Payment Plan (PIPP). PIPP is available to eligible LIHEAP clients who are
customers of Ameren Illinois. Under PIPP, eligible clients will pay a percentage
of their income, receive a monthly benefit towards their utility bill, and
receive a reduction in overdue payments for every on-time payment they make by
the bill due date. The traditional DVP plan is a one-time payment.
Consumer Demand in NYSERDA Appliance Rebate Closes Program in Five Days, No New
Applications to be Accepted
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)’s “Buy
Green, Save Green NYS High-Efficiency Appliance Rebate Program,” which began
last Friday, September 2, was so successful that all funds were allocated by 4
p.m. Sunday, September 4. The wait list, to be served on a first-come
first-served basis if additional funds become available, was closed at 6 pm
Tuesday. NYSERDA is no longer accepting applications for rebates. NYSERDA
initially announced $3 million was available in rebates on a first-come,
first-served basis for high-efficiency refrigerators and clothes washers. Due to
high demand, NYSERDA added another $500,000 during the weekend for a total of
$3.5 million in available funding. Funding for the “Buy Green, Save Green
NYS High-Efficiency Appliance Rebate Program” was provided by the U.S.
Department of Energy’s (DOE) State Energy Program (SEP).
Officials Celebrate New Washington State BMW Plant
The Associated Press
German carmaker BMW and a European carbon-manufacturing company celebrated
the opening Thursday, September 1, of a new plant to produce carbon fibers for
the automotive industry. Drawn to the region by cheap hydropower and Washington
state's renewable-energy efforts, the SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers plant could
become the largest facility of its kind in the world because of strong demand
for the composites. The plant is a $100 million partnership of BMW and SGL
Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of carbon-based products.
SGL Group received a $2 million dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
grant through the State Energy Program administered by the Washington State
Department of Commerce. The award supports the purchase and installation
of commercially available equipment designed for increased energy efficiency.
Types of equipment are ovens, furnaces, and motors as well as waste heat
recovery equipment for thermal oxidizers.
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