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July 6, 2020
On June 30, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released its staff report, Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America. The report is informed by over a year and a half of public engagement and research, including 17 hearings on a wide variety of climate change issues and hundreds of suggestions from stakeholders—such as EESI—and the public. This article is part of a series highlighting key policy suggestions from the Select Committee.
Energy efficiency is the use of less energy to perform the same task—that is, eliminating energy waste. Energy efficiency plays a vital role in the fight against climate change, allowing the United States to rely less on fossil fuels as the country transitions towards renewable energy. The Select Committee's report promotes improved energy efficiency across all sectors of the U.S. economy, recognizing that increased energy efficiency not only creates new jobs for thousands of Americans, but is also the most cost-effective method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
EESI’s recommendations to the House Select Committee focused on the role of improving energy standards and codes, federal building efficiency, affordability in energy efficiency, and access to energy usage data. The staff report included several of these recommendations as essential components in solving the climate crisis.
Residential and Commercial Buildings
The Select Committee’s report centers on buildings—currently responsible for 40 percent of U.S. energy use—as the starting point for energy efficiency advancements. Looking towards the goal of achieving net-zero emissions in all new residential and commercial buildings by 2030, the report recommends that Congress and the Department of Energy (DOE) incentivize states, local governments, tribes, and territories to adopt and enforce updated energy codes for commercial and residential buildings. These codes would require new and existing buildings to “maximize energy efficiency, generate clean energy onsite or nearby where feasible, electrify end uses as the grid decarbonizes, and eliminate emissions from building construction and materials.” The report further advises Congress to direct the DOE to create a model building energy and emission performance standard for states and cities to follow. This would require residential and commercial buildings to meet specific energy efficiency benchmarks, reducing emissions and energy costs.
Federal Buildings
The report includes recommendations for the federal government, which is the largest building owner in the nation and has the potential to reduce emissions by pursuing ambitious energy efficiency goals. According to the report, the “building blocks” for this strategy are:
The report enjoins Congress to require that the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) retrofit at least 100 federal government buildings to achieve 50 percent energy savings by 2025. This “lead-by-example” approach would require Congress to provide the extra funding needed by federal agencies for net-zero emission renovations and construction projects.
Energy Efficiency for Low- to Moderate-Income Households
The report also includes plans for improving the energy efficiency of low- to moderate-income households. One such proposal would expand funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), with the eventual goal of weatherizing every eligible house in the United States. The report recommends giving priority to communities that are suffering due to declining fossil fuel usage (such as coal mining communities) and communities that are disproportionately exposed to pollution, as well as setting aside funds for tribal nations.
The report also proposes that the DOE help utilities establish on-bill financing programs for low- to moderate-income households and small businesses. On-bill financing allows participants to pay back the cost of energy improvements over the course of several years as a line item on their utility bills. This expands energy efficiency accessibility to households and businesses that are unable to afford the upfront costs of improvements. EESI’s recommendations to the committee, based on years of experience with on-bill financing, covered both of these proposals.
National Energy Efficiency Resource Standards
Another of the report’s main suggestions for energy efficiency is to establish national energy efficiency resource standards (EERS). Such standards require that utilities meet a specified percentage of their electricity load (or load growth) with energy efficiency measures. While 26 states already require utilities to abide by energy efficiency resource standards, this measure would require the DOE to “establish uniform and robust evaluation, measurement, and verification procedures” to help ensure savings are real and commercial buildings and homes are improved. This strategy aligns with EESI’s recommendation for Congress to establish a national EERS.
Energy Data
The report also advises Congress to “encourage customer access to their own electricity data” as an avenue to enhance energy efficiency in existing buildings. The report asserts that this is an essential step towards improving energy efficiency in buildings, as businesses and households may not be aware they could benefit from efficiency improvements without access to their data. Improving data access can be achieved through model standards and incentives for adoption, as well as funding for cell phone apps created for this purpose. EESI’s recommendations also identified the issue of accessing energy data as a major barrier to improving building sector efficiency.
The Select Committee staff report presents a wide variety of methods through which the U.S. government can promote and achieve greater energy efficiency. Beyond the recommendations described above, the report includes proposals for tax credits, grant programs, research and development projects, and several other initiatives to increase energy efficiency. These proposals span several sectors, including residential, commercial, and federal buildings, as well as the agricultural sector. The report clearly establishes the vital role of energy efficiency in the battle against climate change.
Authors: Maeve Arthur and Maia Crook
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