By Erin Cosgrove | Wed, July 13, 2022
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the Clean Power Plan in 2015 to cut carbon dioxide pollution from power plants – the largest source of carbon dioxide pollution in the U.S. – by shifting how they generate energy. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling on West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), may have prevented the Clean Power Plan from going into effect, but there…
By Erin Cosgrove | Tue, May 24, 2022
Welcome to the newest installment of a new blog series called Turning Policy into Performance. In this series, we'll take a look at how states can implement decarbonization and climate goals with energy efficiency programs.
Cost-benefit analyses are an important step in evaluating energy efficiency programs because they ensure that ratepayer dollars provide benefits for customers, the utility…
By Erin Cosgrove | Thu, April 28, 2022
Vermont’s legislature is considering the first of its kind Clean Heat Standard (CHS). A Clean Heat Standard seeks to reduce and regulate emissions from natural gas, fuel oil, and propane distributors by creating a cap-and-trade mechanism. This mechanism operates similar to California’s transportation fuel cap-and-trade initiative and Colorado’s Clean Heat Standard for natural gas, but unlike both…
By Erin Cosgrove | Wed, March 23, 2022
Welcome to the newest installment of a new blog series called Turning Policy into Performance. In this series, we'll take a look at how states can implement decarbonization and climate goals with energy efficiency programs.
Achieving decarbonization goals will require a paradigm shift in energy efficiency program planning – away from short-term energy savings and towards long-term carbon savings…
By Erin Cosgrove | Fri, December 17, 2021
This past year, four states in the NEEP region released energy efficiency plans —Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. The results ran the gamut, from progressive new approaches in Massachusetts thanks to its Climate Act, to the New Hampshire PUC’s proposal of a new plan to wind down utility energy efficiency programs. Despite this wide range of outcomes, trends emerged as states…
By Erin Cosgrove | Tue, November 23, 2021
Welcome to the newest installment of a new blog series called Turning Policy into Performance. In this series, we'll take a look at how states can implement decarbonization and climate goals with energy efficiency programs.
States are establishing ambitious climate goals that rely on a transition of our power grid from fossil fuel-based energy to flexible, renewable clean energy. Embedding new…
By Erin Cosgrove | Tue, October 26, 2021
Energy efficiency programs have long operated with a goal of lowering energy use in buildings. But with the right policy, energy efficiency programs can go further and lay the foundation for a more equitable, decarbonized economy. Recent legislation in Massachusetts, S9 - An Act Creating a Next Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts (Climate Act), started this transformation. Since the law has been…
By Erin Cosgrove | Tue, October 26, 2021
Winter in the Northeast leads to cold temperatures and the most energy intensive months of the year, putting a high stress on our grid and our wallets. But it doesn’t have to be this way. By investing in weatherization and energy efficiency appliance upgrades, we can lower the demand on our grid and our energy bills.
Weatherization + Energy Efficiency Upgrades = Deep Energy Efficiency Retrofits…