By Jim OReilly |
To help set the table for the U.S. DOE and NEEP co-hosted dialogue on advancing industrial energy efficiency and CHP, NEEP's Sue Coakley is moderating a discussion on 'Opportunities and Successes.' She started this dialogue by showing a video from NEEP's 2012 Energy Efficiency Summit in Stamford, Conn. that highlighted Sikorsky Aircraft and the energy efficiency and CHP investments they've made…
By Jim OReilly |
Good morning from Baltimore, where the U.S. Department of Energy and NEEP have just kicked off our Regional Dialogue on Accelerating Industrial Energy Efficiency and Combined Heat and Power (CHP). This meeting is being held to advance the development and implementation of state-level best practices in both public policies and investment models that address the barriers to greater investments in…
By Jim OReilly |
Hallelujah. Finally, we have an American president devoting considerable attention to the topic of climate change and the energy policies that drive it.
In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama made very clear that the time has come to act. For those of us engaged in ending energy waste and believing we can do more with less, his words were most welcome. The President is…
By Jim OReilly |
Northeast Region Tops the Nation in Energy Efficiency
The much anticipated state energy efficiency policy scorecard was just issued by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and, once again, Massachusetts has topped the list as the number one state in the nation for energy efficiency public policies. (See: http://www.aceee.org/sector/state-policy/) Congratulations first…
By Jim OReilly |
Add Philadelphia to the growing number of jurisdictions that have adopted laws requiring rating and disclosure of building energy performance.
The Philadelphia City Council on Thursday voted unanimously to approve a new ordinance requiring energy benchmarking of large commercial buildings in the city. Thanks to the leadership of Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, ENERGY STAR Portfolio…
By Jim OReilly |
In a Feb. 5 cover story of the Boston Globe Magazine, Neil Swidey’s “What if the Lights Go Out?” paints a bleak picture of the state of our regional electric grid. And all of his reasons are quite valid: we are overly-reliant on natural gas fired electricity generation; we have an aging electricity and natural gas infrastructure that is vulnerable to failures on its own and attacks from those…
By Jim OReilly |
ACEEE today released its 2011 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, and Massachusetts topped the rankings. Also making the top 10 were New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maryland.
Clearly, the Northeast is the leader in setting policies that recognize and value energy efficiency as a key economic and environmental resource. In each of these states, strong executive leadership has…
By Jim OReilly |
Hello from Salt Lake City, where the U.S. Department of Energy is hosting its annual energy codes conference. This year's event has a decidedly different feel to it, as codes move from just being in the domain of building officials, to taking center stage for a number of legislative and administrative offices, energy offices, climate change task forces and advocacy groups. NEEP's Carolyn Sarno…