In an effort to increase the chances of congressional energy-efficiency legislation being adopted next year, the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) has formed a “blue ribbon” commission to promote, as the advocacy group put it, “a new set of national energy-efficiency policies that, taken together, could make the United States one of the world’s most energy-efficient economies by 2030.” The new Alliance Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy, led by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and National Grid USA President Tom King, consists of various representatives from advocacy groups, public organizations, and businesses.
Recommendations for new national policies, programs, practices, and investments offered by the new commission will cover all sectors of the economy, including buildings, industry, transportation, and power generation. ASE said it will release the commission’s final report and package of consensus policies before year’s end “so that it can serve as an energy-efficiency blueprint for the 113th Congress and the next administration.” The commission will focus its efforts on policies that can be embraced by conservatives and liberals to maximize the likelihood of passage “in a timely manner,” the organization said. ASE believes that commission members, collectively, have expertise across all sectors of the economy and represent different political perspectives as well as key stakeholders such as the environmental and defense communities.
“Securing enactment of energy policy hinges on creating proposals that can attract strong bipartisan support and that businesses and consumers alike recognize as ones that will help boost the economy and create good jobs,” said Warner, a co-chairperson of the commission. “Every member of the commission is committed to creating a portfolio of new and innovative energy-efficiency policies that meet these ‘must pass’ tests.’ The commission is a group that is looking to get things done, not just proposed.”
To help the commission, ASE has organized the International Advisory Council (IAC), which will share ideas, best practices, and information on public policies and regulations that could be adapted in the United States. In addition, ASE has organized a group of technical advisors to support the commission, drawing upon new technologies, market trends, and key energy challenges facing the buildings, utilities, manufacturing, finance, and transportation sectors.
Commission members include the following:
- Dan Arvizu, director and chief executive of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
- Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
- Jorge Carrasco, superintendent of Seattle City Light.
- Gen. Wesley Clark (ret.), chairman and chief executive officer of Wesley K. Clark & Associates in Little Rock, Ark.
- Michael Eckhart, managing director of Citigroup.
- Anthony Eggert, executive director of the University of California, Davis.
- Carol Eicher, group business vice president of Dow Buildings and Construction at Dow Chemical Comp
. - Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund.
- Alex Laskey, president of Opower.
- Michael McQuade, senior vice president of science and technology at UTC.
- Michael Melaniphy, president chief executive officer of the American Public Transportation Association.
- Former New York Gov. George Pataki, counsel at Chadbourne & Parke LLC.
- Susan Story, president and chief executive officer at Southern Company Services.
- Susan Tierney, managing principal at the Analysis Group.
Alliance President Provides Additional Details to GBI
In an email interview with Green Building Insider (GBI), ASE President Kateri Callahan provided the following additional information:
GBI: In the following article (Construction Advisor Today, Feb. 22, 2012, “Group Remains Hopeful that Congress Will Approve Various Proposals Promoting Energy Efficiency”) that we ran a couple of months ago, ASE Policy Director Lowell Ungar expressed hope that Congress may approve several bipartisan energy-efficiency bills this year: http://constructionadvisortoday.com/2012/02/group-remains-hopeful-that-congress-will-approve-various-proposals-promoting-energy-efficiency.html. With an emphasis on the new commission, which will focus on next year, is your organization giving up hope on bills passing this year? If not, what are the realistic chances of those bills passing this year?
Callahan: In no way are we giving up on achieving meaningful legislation this year. In fact, we have redoubled our efforts, alongside our 175 corporate members and scores of other organizations and interest groups, to educate Congress about the important help that national energy-efficiency policy can give American families who are being whipsawed by high energy prices. Our enemy right now is the legislative clock, which is foreshortened considerably as a result of the general elections in the fall. Our new effort not only will complement what’s currently “on the table” but also, and by design, will go well beyond to create a brand new “next generation” of federal energy-efficiency policies. The Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy has committed to a bold vision of developing a set of policy recommendations that will address the whole economy -- buildings, transportation, industry, and power generation -- and that, if enacted into law, would propel the United States into becoming one of the most energy-efficient/energy-productive economies in the world.
GBI: In our previous article, Mr. Ungar emphasized the bipartisan appeal of this year’s bills. Your recent announcement about the creation of the blue-ribbon commission also emphasizes the need to garner bipartisan support. How will the blue-ribbon commission's strategy for next year differ from the current strategy? Why does your organization believe that the bills it supports will fare any better next year than this year?
Callahan: Since its inception 35 years ago, the alliance has advanced energy-efficiency policy as a nonpartisan issue. There are as many reasons for ultra conservatives to support energy efficiency as there are for super liberals and for anyone else on any point of the political spectrum in between. The broad appeal of energy efficiency is evidenced in the makeup of the alliances roster of honorary congressional vice chairs, which includes Democrats and Republicans from both the House and Senate. The commission’s recommendations will be made within this alliance culture of advancing only bipartisan legislation, as we believe this is the best -- and perhaps only -- way to move good policy from the theoretical into the implementable. We will focus on bold but actionable policies that will have appeal across party lines. And we firmly believe that our advocacy for effective energy-efficiency policy will be successful in the coming Congress. Why? Because we see three important imperatives that can be met simultaneously through federal energy-efficiency initiatives. First, such policies can help to mitigate the price, scarcity and environmental problems that are being created by the explosive and seemingly inexorable rise in global energy demand.
Second, such policies address growing demand by government military and civilian agencies and private businesses alike for secure, reliable energy. And third -- and perhaps most important in the current economic environment -- there is growing awareness and understanding by policy makers of all ideological persuasions that national energy-efficiency policies have and will continue to provide good jobs for American workers and have and will continue to free up enormous sums of capital for good use in the economy -- sums that otherwise would have been spent on wasted energy.
GBI: About how much money is being invested in this new endeavor with the blue-ribbon commission? Who's paying for it, and how is the money being raised?
Callahan: As an alliance Board of Directors initiative, the alliance is currently the only funding source for the commission’s efforts. We are most fortunate that all of the commissioners are volunteering their own time and funding their personal involvement in the effort; and many also have pledged additional human and technical resources from their organizations. We also are seeking support from charitable foundations and corporations to help fund some of the analysis and research necessary to underpin the commission’s efforts.
GBI: What details can you provide about the IAC in terms of the number of people serving on the panel, the countries they come from, the energy-efficiency policies adopted in those countries, etc.?
Callahan: The [IAC] is currently comprised of four individuals representing the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and China. The role of the IAC will be to bring forward the best policies, programs, and practices -- those that have significantly and cost-effectively influenced the state of energy efficiency within their economies -- and review reports, analyses, and recommendations brought forward by the commission. The alliance and the commission members agree that there is much that can be learned from innovative efficiency policies and programs being undertaken outside U.S. borders. We are hopeful that many of these policies can be adapted to the United States.
GBI: What can you tell me about the group of technical advisors that ASE has formed in terms of who the members are, what their respective backgrounds are, the current positions they hold, etc.?
Callahan: The Technical Advisors group is still under development; however, the intent of the group is to assist alliance staff with the necessary research to guide development of effective policy and programs that support a more energy-productive economy. Leading the group is Hank Courtright -- who is senior vice president of global member and external relations at the Electric Power Research Institute -- which we believe is most significant, as the utility industry is the primary private-sector deliverer of energy-efficiency programs and funding.
GBI: Other than the decision to issue a final report by year's end, the formation of the IAC, and the creation of a group of technical advisors, what other courses of action, if any, have been decided? What other developments/accomplishments came out of the initial/inaugural meeting in February?
Callahan: The commission has agreed that we will hold the policy recommendations until the final report is released in early November 2012 and that we will release white papers, analyses, and other information periodically between now and the issuance of the final report. These communications will be topical and will explore the current state of energy efficiency in various sectors of the economy. The commission also has requested alliance staff to organize a series of meetings where key stakeholders can meet with the commissioners to provide guidance and input on challenges in the market to scale deployment of energy efficiency.
GBI: Other comments?
Callahan: As staff, we at the alliance are energized and excited to be embarking on this important national effort and to have such a distinguished group of individuals leading our work. There is much to do between now and November, but our goal has been crystallized by the commission, and it is one worthy of the effort: embarking on development of a set of recommendations that, taken together, will make every unit of energy used in creating the U.S. [gross domestic product] in 2030 twice as productive as it is today.
