NH Falling Behind in Energy Policy

As lawmakers, advocates, business leaders, and the general public gathered for the 2014 Green Eggs 'n New HAM-shire Environmental Policy Breakfast in January to discuss the Granite State’s most pressing environmental issues, experts at Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) urge the state to build upon its groundwork to develop cost-effective energy efficiency. According to NEEP’s third annual Regional Roundup of Energy Efficiency Policy in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States (www.neep.org/public-policy/2013-regional-roundup), the state has been held back by the lack of a policy framework putting efficiency first.

This past November, a report titled “Increasing Energy Efficiency in New Hampshire: Realizing our Potential,” laid out a clear and compelling case for creating an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard and it listed the steps to get there. This was the third major report in recent years advising the state to prioritize efforts on efficiency, perhaps through legislation and/or regulatory changes.
 
"With good regional energy programs in place, and on the eve of launching a new state energy plan, many of us think that the time is right for New Hampshire to enact policies that treat energy efficiency like other energy resources," said NH State Representative Kenneth Grossman at the breakfast. “So with others, I am sponsoring legislation aimed at achieving the goal of an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard.”
 
While NH is falling behind the pack, the region overall continues to lead the nation in energy efficiency. Examining the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region as a whole, NEEP’s Regional Roundup provides a summary and analysis of some of the biggest building energy efficiency successes and setbacks in states from Maine to Maryland, including key energy efficiency laws and regulations, and changes in funding levels and savings goals for customer energy efficiency programs.
 
“Over the last year, we saw states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic continue making solid advances by putting more of their energy dollars towards efficiency as a least-cost resource,” said Natalie Treat, policy outreach manager at NEEP. “But in New Hampshire, it was another year of study and debate about whether it should choose clean, smart, job-creating efficiency first. We hope 2014 is finally the year that the Granite State gets serious about ramping up energy efficiency investments. Until then, it is ceding opportunities, and losing ground, to neighboring states on all sides.”
 
“The Roundup is intended to give policymakers, program administrators, advocates, and other stakeholders a comparative view of building energy efficiency progress across the region in 2013,” said Jim O’Reilly, director of public policy at NEEP. “Along with state-level highlights, this report reveals regional trends and shared challenges in harnessing the potential of energy efficiency to meet multiple public policy goals – controlling energy costs, improving system reliability, modernizing the electric grid, strengthening the economy, growing jobs, improving public health, and curbing harmful emissions.”

Key Findings:

• The Northeast continues to lead the nation in innovative energy policy, public and private support and per capita investment in efficiency programs.
• Even in a slow economy, much of the region continues to ramp up efficiency, with investment levels expected to reach beyond $2.5 billion this year.
• All states in the region reaffirmed the importance of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) by lowering the cap on emissions.
• States are grappling with the same challenges — how to fund efficiency for oil heated homes, how to coordinate state-wide programs to make access easier for customers, how to reach more homes and businesses, and how to go deeper with efficiency projects.
• In states like Maryland and New York, important proceedings were established that could revamp their energy efficiency portfolio standards.
• In states like Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut and Rhode Island, important legislative and regulatory actions will allow their states to continue to expand investments in customer energy efficiency programs which will help drive down utility costs for all.

The full report including state-by-state information and regional data is available at www.neep.org/public-policy/2013-regional-roundup or at www.neep.org.

NEEP is a non-profit organization that through advocacy, collaboration and education focuses on three areas where energy efficiency can have impact: buildings, high efficiency products & best practices.