4. ENERGY EFFICIENCY: New industry-enviro group pushes efficiency resource standard bill (E&E Daily, 03/18/2009)

Ben Geman, E&E senior reporter

A new coalition that includes environmental groups and major industry players will push legislation creating a national "energy efficiency resource standard" that requires electric and natural gas utilities to curb demand.

The Campaign for an Energy-Efficient America will go public today with support for efficiency resource standard bills already introduced in both chambers. The bills require power providers to achieve energy savings of 1 percent in 2012, escalating to 15 percent in 2020. For gas distributors, the amount would be 0.75 percent in 2012, reaching 10 percent in 2020.

The group is comprised of efficiency advocates including the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and Alliance to Save Energy; and a host of national, regional and state environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

The various industry members include Dow Chemical Co., Whirlpool Corp., Intel Corp. and other companies, and trade groups representing insulation manufacturers, energy service companies and building owners and managers.

Suzanne Watson, the policy director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said the new group will help advocates for the resource standard speak with a "single voice."

"Efficiency is good for the economy, it produces jobs, it produces economic growth and it obviously reduces carbon [emissions]," said Watson, who said the resource standard is the council's top legislative priority.

Her group is releasing a new report today on the effect of implementing an efficiency resource standard, stating that it would provide enough electricity savings in 2020 to power almost 48 million households and eliminate the need to build 390 power plants.

It says that the savings envisioned by the congressional proposals would, in 2020, provide carbon dioxide emissions savings equivalent to 48 million automobiles. It also finds that cumulative benefits, at over $247 billion, outweigh the cumulative costs of $78.5 billion.

Nineteen states are currently implementing efficiency resource standards, the report states, but a national policy is needed to "strengthen" state-level efforts and expand the policy nationwide.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee, is the sponsor of the House bill, H.R. 889. The Energy and Commerce Committee plans to mark up a major energy and climate change bill by Memorial Day.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is the sponsor of the Senate bill, S. 548.

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