Energy Efficiency Strategies for Bay Area Communities: Experts share options
February 11th, 2010
Oakland Local
Not long ago, energy efficiency & conservation were considered the ugly step-brothers of environmentalism. They were overshadowed by their sexier siblings–solar panels and wind turbines.
That has changed. The topic of “Energy Efficiency and Community Participation” was discussed at the Clean Power, Healthy Communities Conference Wednesday. The afternoon panel consisted of Tara Marchant, Program Manager of the Green Asset Program at The Greenlining Institute, Jodi Pincus, Exectuive Director of Rising Sun Energy Center, and Mark Toney, of The Utility Reform Network.
Marchant began the session by acknowledging that the most cost effective way of both creating jobs and saving energy has been too-long overlooked. “For a long-time energy efficiency was ignored as the low-hanging fruit.”
Marchant pointed to opportunities for leveraging ARRA (Recovery Act) dollars for weatherization and energy efficiency programs and for defining local hire policies. For example, that $185 million of the $5 billion for federal weatherization assistance has gone to California. She gave examples of how over half million full-time jobs could be created with $500 billion in public-private investment for retrofitting, or maximizing ‘whole-home’ performance on 40% of our national stock by 2020.
“We need to be ready with these numbers in the AB 32 fight,” she said. AB 32 (California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006) is the landmark bill that sets greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
A section under AB32 (38565) requires that funds be directed when appropriate to the most disadvantaged communities in California, and those are also the ones most impacted disproportionately by pollution and climate change.
“It’s an amazing piece of wording for our communities” she said.
Sharing the spectacular concrete results of a pilot project 2 years ago of retrofitting 36 homes in one particular neighborhood, Marchant said, “We must always look at the metrics and use it to propel are argument forward.” she said. “Now Biden is talking retrofitting and Obama is talking Cash for Caulkers.”
Jodi Pincus, Executive Director of Rising Sun Energy Center, spoke of their innovative programs that combine the 3 E’s–environment, economics, and social equity. She shared stories of some of the youth who have gone through their many programs. Their CYES (California Youth Energy Services) program provides youth with summer jobs that pays $9-10 an hour to conduct simple home energy upgrades (“green house calls”) and installation of CFLs, clotheslines, low-flow showerheads, and other green-home measures. Last summer, the program operated in 3 counties and 10 cities in the Bay Area, employed 90 Youth Energy Specialists, and upgraded over 2,500 homes.
Two other programs Rising Sun offers are the Leaders-in-Field Training (LIFT) and Green Energy Training Services (GETS) for returning youth, which offer the opportunity to develop techincal and administrative skills and build viable careers paths in renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors. Pincus is confident that within a year the jobs will open wide up because of existing and new rebates, tax credits & incentives, and shifts in the markets. She calls the RSE model a “triple win” because it builds the workforce, the community, and the environment. They are now forming affiliates across the country due to the success they are having.
Finally Mark Toney addressed what he called the weakest link in CA’s energy situation: the failure of California’s energy efficiency program. Showing a slide depicting the relative energy savings in California from appliance standards, building standards, and utility energy efficiency programs, Toney pointed out that most savings have been from the first two, while energy efficiency has stayed fairly flat since 1995. Further, he pointed out that PG&E’s heavily subsidized compact florescent lightbulbs (CFLs)—a signifcant component of CA’s energy saving’s plan–have the highest mercury content and are produced in Chinese factories powered by some of the dirtiest coal plants.
“They don’t even meet Wal-Mart’s standards,” Toney said.
He made an impassioned argument against the new Smart Meters that are en vogue and being installed quickly across California. He said there are many concerns ranging from their safety to whether they work properly and shared a couple customer complaints that showed wildly fluctuating bills after smart meters were installed.
“The shell game doesn’t reduce carbon,” referring to the strategies of peak-load shifting and time-of-day pricing. He said far more effective and far less expensive are simpler solutions like weatherization, reducing energy use, turning off powerstrips and appliances, and using clotheslines instead of energy-sucking dryers.
Toney ended his presentation with a provocative question, “In the ‘Meter Wars’, will you join the Utility Empire or the Consumer Jedis?”