Stronger Energy Efficiency Policies Could Save Ohio Families $244 per Year and Create 24,900 Ohio Jobs
Two energy auditors join with Environment Ohio Field Organizer Amanda Moore to outline the benefits of energy efficiency to Columbus TV reporters.Energy efficiency business leaders joined Environment Ohio at a cozy but inefficient home in the Columbus neighborhood of German Village to encourage Congress to act now to help Americans save money and energy through energy efficiency.
"It's time to harness the power of American ingenuity to put thousands of Ohioans back to work and save businesses and consumers money on their energy bills every year," said Barry Daroe, President of Green-4-Ever, Inc. "By supporting stronger energy efficiency components as part of energy and climate legislation, our senators can bring big economic results when their constituents need them most."
The homeowner, Maria Duque, knew that her house could be more energy efficient, but wasn't sure where to start. So she signed up for a home energy audit performed by Don Hall, President of WattWorks and Barry Daroe, President of Green-4-Ever, Inc. Hall and Daroe found numerous opportunities where she could save money, reduce her energy use and reduce pollution.
"I knew that there were a few places where my home could be more energy efficient, but some of their discoveries surprised me," said Duque. "We need Congress to pass better energy policies so that more people can get home energy audits. That way they'll know where they're losing money, where their homes are least efficient, and they'll be able to take the first steps to save money."
At Duque's home, Environment Ohio released a new national report that shows how Ohio households could save an average of $244 per year and more than 24,900 Ohioans could be put back to work over the next ten years if Congress acts now to include strong energy efficiency improvements in the federal energy and climate legislation. The report, entitled Energy Efficiency in the American Clean Energy Security Act of 2009: Impacts
of Current Provisions and Opportunities to Enhance the Legislation, written by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, shows that the efficiency provisions would prevent 14 tons per year of global warming emissions—the equivalent of removing the pollution from 2.5 million cars from the road for a year.
"Americans know that energy efficiency is the cleanest, quickest, cheapest way of reducing our energy use and pollution," said Amanda Moore of Environment Ohio. "These common sense solutions will put cash back in our pockets and help protect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the future of the planet."
The report also found that the current energy efficiency policies in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), which passed the House of Representatives in June, would create 16,400 new Ohio jobs, save the average household $183 a year, and reduce annual carbon emissions by 9 tons in Ohio by 2020.
"While the House bill is a critical first step in harnessing the power of energy efficiency, this report shows we can save even more money, create more jobs and reduce more pollution," said Moore. She added that Ohio's two senators, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican George Voinovich "should lead the fight for common sense energy efficiency policies and jumpstart the transition to a clean energy economy."
Brown and Voinovich can maximize economic benefits to consumers by:
- Supporting a strengthened Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) requiring utility companies to reduce their energy usage by at least 10 percent by providing incentives and assistance to help customers make their homes and businesses more energy-efficient (ACES included a 5 percent EERS with an optional 3 percent increase).
- Modeling electric utility allocation on that of the natural gas utility allocation in ACES, by requiring one-third be used for energy efficiency improvements.
- Extending the allocation of carbon allowance revenue to the State Energy and Environmental Development (SEED) provision.
For more information, contact Environment Ohio at 614-460-8732 or visit www.environmentohio.org/reports/energy to read the entire report.
Environment Ohio is a state-based, citizen-financed environmental organization working for clean air, clean water, and open space.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting economic prosperity, energy security and environmental protection. For more information, visit www.aceee.org.