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| April & May 2011 |
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NEWS & VIEWS
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Policy Developments in the States
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Vermont Energy Investment Corporation to Run D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility
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NEEP Continues Work in Defense of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
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On-Bill Financing Discussed in New York Assembly
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Connecticut Legislators Consider Restoring Energy Efficiency Funds
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Codes Work Heats Up Across the Region |
Federal Appliance Standards Program Looks to Improve Analytic Approach |
Policy Developments in the States Public Policy Associate
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 Building Energy Policy Associate
NEEP is proud to support all 12 states in our region in their efforts to meet or exceed national model energy code requirements, and to attain full compliance with energy codes through comprehensive training in code enforcement. In fact, Connecticut and Vermont remain the only states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic still working toward final adoption of the latest national model building energy code (2009 IECC, its equivalent or greater), which is expected to take place in both states later this year. To see the status of building energy codes in each state, check out "Our Activities" on NEEP's Building Energy Codes webpage.
Although the region has been heralded a national model for its advancements in code work, several Northeast states are experiencing attempts to roll back or repeal their state building energy codes. NEEP has been actively involved in advocacy efforts in Maine and Pennsylvania to prevent these rollbacks, which would weaken or repeal the energy codes already adopted through prior legislation or regulation. NEEP participated in several stakeholder meetings in Maine and Pennsylvania, working with partner organizations and nationally to develop strategies and talking points to educate legislators, code officials, builders and consumers on the benefits of building energy codes. A Closer Look at Maine:
On April 7, 2011, NEEP and over 50 other speakers presented testimony against LD 43 and on April 14 it was successfully voted "Ought Not to Pass" by a 12-1 majority in committee. Read NEEP's testimony opposing LD 43 here and keep up to date on the latest code developments in the State of Maine here. A Closer Look at Pennsylvania:
Despite the efforts of a large body of advocates, enforcement officials and construction industry members, HB 377 was passed by the legislator and signed by Governor Tom Corbett. NEEP believes that it will weaken Pennsylvania's reputation as a national leader in energy efficiency and building safety, as well as undermine economic growth and job creation. For more detail, you can read NEEP's written testimony against it here. NEEP will continue to closely monitor legislative code activity in Pennsylvania and provide support for a strong and equitable building energy code wherever possible.
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 Standards Program Manager
 In the midst of maintaining a record-setting pace of revising federal appliance standards for a large batch of products, the US Department of Energy (DOE) recently began a concurrent process to improve the underlying analysis on which all rulemakings rely. Efficiency advocates are excited by the potential of strengthening an already robust federal standards program.Early in March, DOE published a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) describing a new approach for how equipment prices- at an assortment of efficiencies- should be forecasted into the future as part of the standards setting process. As opposed to DOE's current analyses that assume that equipment prices remain constant, this new approach would incorporate changes over time. DOE notes in the NODA that historical data and supporting economic literature demonstrate that the long-held assumption that prices remain constant is conservative, and product costs most often decrease over time as new technologies enter the marketplace. DOE solicited comment on an approach that would use data on prices and cumulative shipments to calculate "learning rates," which could then be applied in the forecasting of future prices. This would generally have the effect of decreasing estimated incremental costs of more efficient products over time, improving the economics of higher efficiency products. DOE specifically requested comment on the use of this approach in the current rulemaking on refrigerators, but extended the solicitation in a more generic sense for all future standards rulemakings. NEEP collaborated with a number of national advocates to develop a response to the NODA, which were submitted on March 24. Additional documents are posted on the DOE site.
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Vermont Energy Investment Corporation to Run D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility
While property assessed clean energy (PACE) has been the center of the debate on financing, on-bill financing is also receiving much attention across the region (for an overview of on-bill financing, see this brief by the 
Several bills have been introduced in Maine that would restrict, modify or eliminate the state's newly adopted 2008 Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC). A public hearing on one bill in particular, 
Unfortunately, legislators in Pennsylvania have taken steps that will undermine the state building energy code. HB 377 makes substantial amendments to the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, including changes that would repeal automatic state code adoption, corresponding to the ICC change cycle. It will also increase membership on the building code council to disproportionately favor builders' interests and require two-thirds of the membership to approve any revisions to the state building code, thereby making it virtually impossible to adopt any safety, health or welfare provisions.