NW Energy Coalition – For a clean and affordable energy future

Washington’s Clean Energy Initiative (also know as I-937) was passed by voters in November 2006 and requires the state’s major electric utilities to gradually increase the amount of new renewable resources in their electricity supply to 15% by 2020.

Since 2006, The Clean Energy Initiative has generated about $7.5 billion in renewable energy investments in this state, especially in our struggling rural communities, and all-time-record efficiency savings for energy consumers. More investments, more savings and more jobs will come to us as long as we keep the pathway open…

The Omnibus spending bill Congress is set to pass today contains a huge lump of coal for our stockings: a rider prohibiting the U.S. Department of Energy from enforcing the lighting efficiency standards. Those who couldn’t muster support for repealing the standards have used the threat of a government shutdown to undercut a law that will save money for consumers and utilities and significantly lower national greenhouse gas emissions…

The Columbia Basin Bulletin reports on the annual “Utility Conservation Achievements Report” released this week by the Northwest Power and Conservation CouncilThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council was created by Congress to develop and maintain a regional power plan and a fish and wildlife program to balance the Northwest's environment and energy needs. and Regional Technical Forum that shows that increased conservation during 2010 by Pacific Northwest electricity users saved 254 average megawatts, the equivalent annual power use of 153,900 homes.

If things continue as they are now, a new report concludes, by 2050 the Western states will be using a lot more coal-fired power and natural gas than they would if companies invested the same amount of money in renewables, energy conservation and a more flexible grid.

Read the full article online at Oregon Public Broadcasting.

The following are NWEC’s comments in response to the BPA draft proposal “Proposed Approach for EEI Budget Adjustments and Scenario Results Due to Energy Efficiency FY2011 Capital Overspend.”

BPA EE Overspend NWEC Comments

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has named The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) as one of its 2011 “Champions of Energy Efficiency in Industry.”

According to ACEEE’s news release, the honor recognizes NEEA’s efforts in designing innovative industrial energy efficiency programs, and for collaborating with Northwest industrial customers in transforming the market for industrial energy efficiency.

To read the ACEEE announcement, go here.

All this talk about energy efficiency can, to the skeptical ear, sound like so much happy talk. Really, can something as simple as changing lights or adding insulation actually make a meaningful difference in my business’ financial performance?

Well, in a word, yes. Investments big and small can have an outsized impact on the amount you spend on energy.

After the BULB bill suffered a defeat in the House on Tuesday because proponents could not muster the needed 2/3 majority, the sponsors tried a different tact. Today the House approved an amendment to the Department of Energy’s spending bill, a vote that required only a simple majority vote.

In a show of support for energy efficiency, the U.S. House of Representatives voted against a bill that would have turned back time on the way Americans light their homes.

Congress voted down the politically named “Better Use of Light Bulbs” (BULB) Act, which was sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), on a 233-193 vote, missing by 40 votes the two-thirds majority needed for passage.

Analyses by the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy and the Appliance Standards Awareness Project shows that better bulbs equal consumer cost savings in every state.