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 neepenergy |
City Hall Annex - Cambridge's first high performance municipal building Photo: City of Cambridge and Blind Dog Photo, Inc.
Naturally, I waited until the last possible day of the year to apply for my resident parking permit at the City Hall Annex in Cambridge, Mass. When I entered the lobby, the line of permit-seekers was at least a hundred people deep, winding around the entire first…
By neepenergy |
In a recent blog post, Penni McLean-Conner of NSTAR, highlighted the tremendous innovation spurred on by the new EISA standards enacted on January 1. The standards have truly brought about the biggest evolution in the lighting industry since Edison was around. Some of this change has not been so welcomed. In her post Conner explains,
“Another important change brought about by…
By Josh Craft |
Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts
This past Monday a large contingent of energy industry leaders met at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston to share ideas and discuss the status of energy transmission systems across the United States for the “New England Clean Energy Transmission Summit.” Everyone from operators to engineers to government employees were in attendance, with several major…
By Josh Craft |
Recently, Massachusetts's landmark energy efficiency law, the Green Communities Act of 2008, has come under criticism for raising energy costs and harming state businesses at the expense of its utility companies. Governor Deval Patrick, though, reminded the people during his State of the Commonwealth speech that one of the nation's most ambitious clean energy bills is paying off. Here's the…
By Josh Craft |
Happy 2012 everyone! As we head full steam into 2012, NEEP’s Policy Team is keeping a close eye on five key policy developments that will have an impact on energy efficiency policy this year:
1. Major Energy Efficiency Polices under Attack
2012 looks to be a year in which landmark energy efficiency laws come under attack in state legislatures. In Massachusetts and Maine, for instance, their…
By Natalie Hildt Treat |
See WGBH's report on the home energy assessment here.
It’s not always easy to take advice from your kid. And when it comes to energy efficiency, I’ve got plenty to offer. After many visits to my father’s 19th century house when I’d grouse about the drafts and bee-line for the wood stove, I finally hatched a plan to help my dad David Hildt and his wife Kate Broughton figure out how to make…
By neepenergy |
In early December we wrote this post about two resources for developing the clean energy workforce. As a new directory for Vermont is launched today, we've updated the post to provide up to date links to these resources.
As the economy continues to stumble, more states are accelerating their energy efficiency and clean energy programs to create jobs, save money and save energy. The need…
By dlenergyefficiency |
Congress and the President are set to pass a spending bill that will, among other things, defund the enforcement of the EISA light bulb standards for the 2012 fiscal year. While this means that the Department of Energy (DOE) will have no funding to enforce the standards until October 2012, the standards themselves remain in place.
The details of the new provision, like the standards themselves…
By neepenergy |
Rocky Mountain Institute
The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is a research and consulting non-profit in Colorado exploring the opportunities for increased efficiency with existing and new technologies. The RMI recently published a report: Turbo Charging Energy Efficiency Programs, calling for utilities to dig deeper and broader for increased efficiency savings.
In a blog post today on the…