December 5, 2013--The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's new Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP), the final rule of which was published in today's Federal Register. This new program, under the purview of USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), provides an initial $250 million per year in federal loans and financial assistance to support energy efficiency programs operated by rural electric cooperatives and other rural utilities. RUS anticipates higher funding levels in subsequent years to meet demand.

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The first part of the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), which reviews the scientific evidence for climate change and its causes, will be released on Monday, September 30, but a summary for policymakers was made public Friday with its key conclusions. According to this summary, "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased."

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September 20, 2013---The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the Environmental Protection Agency’s draft rules for restricting carbon pollution from new power plants, which were released today. These rules would mark the first federal carbon emission limits on power plants, which represented 40 percent of all energy-related emissions of greenhouse gases in 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration. Most of those emissions came from coal plants.

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Washington, DC, July 2013 - South Carolina's consumer-owned electric cooperatives (co-ops) have released the results of their "Help My House" Loan Pilot Program. The pilot provided loans to co-op member-owners to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes. The loans are being repaid to the co-ops through participants' utility bills, in a process known as "on-bill financing." Billing data on the 125 participating South Carolina homes indicates a 34 percent reduction in energy use (1.35 million kWh) in the year after the work was completed, an average savings of $288 per home after loan payments.

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Thanks to the many fantastic reviews written by our wonderful supporters, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is proud to announce that it is one of only five environmental non-profits in Washington, D.C., to have won the coveted 2012 Top Rated Award from GreatNonprofits. Only 1 percent of eligible nonprofits win this accolade every year, and 2012 was the second year EESI made the cut. GreatNonprofits is currently gathering reviews for the 2013 Top-Rated Award. Reviews are due by October 31, 2013 (to review EESI, please click here).

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March 12, 2013—In an effort to help address the array of energy challenges facing the country, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the University of Maryland, and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) have developed 'Energy 101', a unique, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary model framework born out of DOE's desire to introduce college students to energy literacy and sustainability and to encourage them to pursue energy careers. The partners will offer a webinar on April 10, 2013, for faculty, administrators and other interested parties to learn about the 'Energy 101' framework and how it uses group projects, DOE's Energy Literacy Principles (essential energy concepts for all citizens, from K-to-Gray), and educational modules to help students make informed choices about energy production, energy use, and sustainable development. Webinar participants will be able to ask questions at the end of the presentation.

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February 12, 2013—In tonight's State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama emphasized the need to keep the economy on the right track as it regains its strength and creates new jobs. He also reiterated the critical need to address climate change, after a year which saw record heat, drought, and weather extremes in the United States: "For the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change."

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The pilot was launched in 2011 by the Central Electric Power Cooperative, the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, and eight South Carolina co-ops, with technical and policy support from EESI. The comprehensive energy retrofit approach is projected to yield an average energy savings of more than 11,000 kWh/year per home. Though the average loan was for $7,200 over a 10-year term, the net financial benefits are expected to be immediate, particularly during energy-intensive summer and winter months. The 35 percent projected energy savings from this meter-based on-bill financing pilot is substantially higher than the savings achieved by many traditional utility rebate-based residential retrofit programs. Further, 96 percent of interviewed participants said that they were satisfied with the program and found their homes to be more comfortable. The pilot homes are undergoing a yearlong measurement phase to confirm projections. In conjunction with these preliminary results, EESI has released fact sheets about the pilot program and a general overview of on-bill financing.

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The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) are pleased to announce the release of their joint report, Climate Adaptation & Transportation: Identifying Information and Assistance Needs (view the report's summary here).

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