Alliance Briefs Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Efficiency
On Jan. 31, 2011, the Alliance discussed efficiency’s key role in meeting the United States’ energy challenges with staffers and legislative assistants of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The briefing highlighted industry success with aggressive implementation of energy efficiency, and pointed to policy opportunities for the 112th Congress.
Energy Efficiency Policies Support Economy, Industry
Economic, industry and policy perspectives were provided by McKinsey and Company, Alliance Associates United Technology Corporation (UTC) and The Dow Chemical Company, and the Alliance Policy Team.
The briefing stressed that energy efficiency policy plays a major role in addressing America’s energy challenges and is a resource that presents here-and now-solutions. Presenters noted that even though energy efficiency faces market barriers, focused policy strategy can overcome them.
- McKinsey Director Ken Ostrowski presented a report on the potential of energy efficiency to be “good for the economy as well as the pocket book.” If executed at scale, investing $520 billion from now through 2020 in energy efficiency would save the United States more than $1.2 trillion in energy costs and reduce projected energy demand by 23% (9.1 quadrillion Btus) by 2020 – the equivalent of removing the U.S. passenger fleet from the road. Ostrowski said the United States must use energy efficiency to meet national energy needs across the next decade.
- Curt Rich, vice president of energy and environmental policy at UTC, said efficiency is a value-creating investment for UTC. Since 2007, UTC has saved money by increasing building operation efficiency. In light of UTC’s success, Rich urged the government to make its own buildings energy efficient.
- Peter Molinaro, vice president of federal and state government affairs at The Dow Chemical Company, noted that Dow’s high energy usage spurred the company to make efficiency an essential component of its energy plan. Since 1994, Dow’s investment of $1 billion in energy efficiency has led to $9 billion in savings. Dow’s high rate of return enables continuous investment in energy efficiency programs. One forthcoming program establishes a $100 million global endowment fund for identifying and executing energy efficiency and waste reduction projects.
- Alliance Policy Director Lowell Ungar identified energy efficiency as vital to building the foundation of clean energy policy. Ungar said policy mechanisms can overcome market barriers through R&D, incentives, education and outreach, and codes and standards. He noted that implementing appliance standards alone would lead to $4 billion in net savings by 2030.
Fielding Questions from Congressional Staff
The Q&A session focused on the potential for energy efficiency policy and programs to create jobs; presenters noted that labor-intensive retrofits can add up to 900,000 jobs in the next decade.
Presenters also agreed that efficiency should be part of a clean energy standard (CES), and Ostrowski added that a CES goes hand-in-hand with energy efficiency and a strong economy by creating jobs and saving money for businesses and consumers.
Presentations:
Please click on the documents below to access the presentations:
