Initiative 937, the law you went to polls to pass in 2006, is essential to realizing our goals for the future: clean, secure and affordable electricity; a vital, job-creating new energy economy; and reducing health-damaging pollution and doing our part in forestalling climate disaster.

Since its passage, I-937 has:

• Generated about $7 billion in renewable energy investments in this state, especially in our struggling rural communities.
• Resulted in all-time-record efficiency savings for energy consumers.
• Reduced our reliance on fossil fuels, protecting us from pollution and volatile prices.

Please call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and leave a message for your Senator and Representatives:  Please fulfill the promise of Initiative 937, and deliver MORE clean energy jobs to our state.

The legislature will likely consider changes to I-937 during the 2012 session. The 24 organizations that make up the Washington Environmental Priorities Coalition have selected Fulfill our Clean Energy Initiative as one of their three combined priorities for the 2012 state legislative session.

Initiative 937 was selected to ensure that any changes passed by the legislature in 2012 preserve the intent of the law to increase the development of clean and renewable energy. Clean energy advocates are receptive to concerns that have been raised by stakeholders and are looking at changes that make the initiative work better for all Washingtonians. And we will be advocating provisions to the law that help increase our state’s investments in energy efficiency and new renewable resources and avoid construction of polluting power plants.

Please call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and leave a message for your Senator and Representatives:  Please fulfill the promise of Initiative 937, and deliver MORE clean energy jobs to our state.

We will need your help to ensure that any changes to I-937 are reasonable ones that reflect and advance Washington values. It’s possible that some proposals from special interests will go beyond reasonable fixes and we will need you to raise your voice to defend our clean energy future.

Can you stand up and contact your legislators now and tell them that you want them to help fulfill our clean energy initiative. In these challenging economic times, I-937 is delivering real economic development through energy efficiency and new, clean renewable energy projects. More investments, more savings, and more jobs will come to us as long as we keep this pathway open.

We’ll keep you up-to-date on I-937 developments throughout the coming legislative session. Stay tuned!

You may remember that House Republicans did not succeed with an outright appeal of the federal lighting efficiency standards – i.e., their infamous “BULB” bill. Instead, they passed a rider to DOE’s budget, prohibiting the agency from spending any money to enforce the law.

We just learned  that the  rider  on DOE’s budget is one issue preventing lawmakers from advancing the omnibus spending package for Energy and Natural Resources. Energy efficiency advocates, lighting industry stakeholders and others are weighing in with House and Senate leadership to ensure the provision is not included in a final omnibus package. Energy efficiency advocates are being urged to ask their Senators to call on majority leader Reid and Chairman Inouye to exclude the House rider from the final package. We are strongly encouraging Coalition members to help. The target list of Senators to call are Oregon’s Jeff Merkely and Ron Wyden; Montana’s Max Baucus and Washington’s Patty Murray.

Calls representing individuals and organizations are needed.  Again, we ask that you please consider contacting the Senators’ offices. You can find more information on our web site http://www.nwenergy.org/issues/ee/why-the-bulb-bill-is-bad-for-america/

We’re pleased to announce the release of the 2012 Washington State Energy Strategy.
The document was submitted to the Governor and Legislature this morning and the material is now available on the State Energy Strategy Website.

The 2012 State Energy Strategy represents a fundamental collaboration among Commerce, the Advisory Committee (AC), Technical Experts Panel (TEP), state agency partners, stakeholders and the public. The AC and TEP included a range of members whose experience supported comprehensive analysis and sound policy recommendations. Members met regularly during the 2011 Strategy Update process, and provided expert advice and guidance this year for the 2012 Energy Strategy. The work of the AC and TEP is now complete. Both committees will dissolve by March 2012 as mandated in E2SHB 2658. We do not anticipate any further listserv announcements.

The question is if there is enough time before the credits expire…RESNET’s Washington representative Carl Chidlow reports that a group of Senators led by Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) chairman of the Senate Energy Committee and member of the Senate Finance Committee, John Kerry (D-MA) member of the Senate Finance Committee and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) chairwoman of the Senate Environment Committee are working to include clean energy incentives in an anticipated tax extenders package.

The credits, including the $2,000 credit to builders for energy efficient homes are scheduled to expire at the end of 2011.

It remains to be seen whether this effort can pass the House and Senate and signed by President Obama by December 31, 2011.  If it does not, the group of Senators are making it a priority to have the legislation pass in early 2012 with the possibility of a retroactive extension as was done in 2010.

This activity is being pushed by a coalition of more 750 businesses and organizations, including RESNET who has issued an appeal for action on a tax extenders legislation. We’ll update you as more information becomes available.

The Cut Energy Bills at Home Act has been introduced in the Senate with bipartisan support. If passed, the bill would create a new 25e tax credit — the first residential performance-based tax credit given to homeowners who make energy efficiency improvements. The proposed bill would provide performance-based tax credits of up to $5,000 per project for homeowners who install qualified energy efficiency measures. To learn more about the bill, download our 25e Fact Sheet.

From RESNET:

On November 81, 2011, Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Jeff Bingaman D-NM), and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the “Cut Energy Bills at Home Act”. This bill creates a new performance-based existing homes tax credit (25E). RESNET applauds this bill and these Senators’ consistent leadership on energy efficiency.

The Cut Energy Bills at Home Act provides a $2,000 credit for home energy efficiency retrofits to the homeowner for a 20% improvement in home energy efficiency. For every additional 5% improvement, the homeowner is eligible for an extra $500, up to $5000. The legislation specifically recognizes RESNET standards for certified Home Energy Raters to verify the credit, accredited software programs to model and calculate the energy savings and RESNET Energy Smart Contractors to install the improvements.

RESNET was part of the coalition which worked with Senators Snowe, Bingaman, and Feinstein in drafting this legislation. RESNET feels strongly that a performance-based model, a model which allows the consumer to decide how to best retrofit a home, is good public policy and deserving of support. This is just one more step toward the revitalization of our industry and a more energy efficient America. This also reflects the added credibility that RESNET has in Washington.

RESNET will be working with its strategic allies in urging that Congress take action on this bill.

For more information including the legislative language and news release from Senator Snowe click on Cut Energy Bills at Home Act

RESNET also urges you to contact your states’ Senators to encourage them to join Senator Snowe, Senator Bingaman, and Senator Feinstein in co-sponsoring the Cut Energy Bills at Home Act.

By Kenneth R. Harney

Syndicated columnist

Full story at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2016599564_harney30.html 

Energy Related Bill Tracking

Washington State Legislature 2011 Regular Session

WSU Extension Energy Program > Energy Library > Energy Legislation Tracking Tool.

Please attend a hearing or submit written comments!

The Washington state Department of Commerce is currently leading the effort to revise the State Energy Strategy, Washington state’s plan for meeting future energy needs.  The full revision is planned for completion and delivery to the state legislature by the end of 2011.  However, in the interim, the Department of Commerce will be submitting an update and initial policy recommendations to the Governor and legislature at the end of 2010.  This Draft State Energy Strategy Update is currently open to public comment until October 15.

A critical element of the draft Update is Chapter 2 which outlines the initial policy recommendations.   We encourage you to submit comments on the policy proposals that are included in this Chapter, including critical items on energy efficiency and modifying I-937. Attached are talking points that touch on some of the main policy areas we feel should be addressed in your comments or testimony.

View the full text of the Draft Update here:  http://www.commerce.wa.gov/DesktopModules/CTEDPublications/CTEDPublicationsView.aspx?tabID=0&ItemID=8915&MId=863&wversion=Staging

How to Comment?

Attend a public hearing!  (Please let us know if you are able to attend)

Spokane Public Hearing
Tuesday, October 5
Time: 5:00-7:00pm
Washington State University Campus, Spokane
Academic Center Room 20
412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd.
Spokane, WA 99202

Tacoma Public Hearing
Wednesday, October 14
Time: 6:00-8:00pm
University of Washington Campus, Tacoma
Keystone Building, Carwein Auditorium
1900 Commerce Street
Tacoma, WA 98402

Submit written comments by e-mail!
Send Comments via E-mail to: energystrategy@commerce.wa.gov <mailto:energystrategy@commerce.wa.gov>
Snail Mail to Roel Hammerschlag – State Energy Strategy, Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 42525, Olympia, WA 98504-2525.

More information:
Please visit the Department of Commerce website at http://www.commerce.wa.gov/site/1327/default.aspx

If you’re able to attend this hearing or will be submitting comments, please let us know.

Thanks!
____________________
Cy Berryman
Outreach Director
NW Energy Coalition

811 1st Avenue, #305
Seattle, Washington 98104
Phone: (206) 621-0094

http://www.nwenergy.org

From Earth Techling

http://www.earthtechling.com/2010/07/home-star-clawing-way-through-senate/

Home Star Clawing Way Through Senate
by Nino Marchetti, July 16th, 2010

The Home Star bill, which would offer rebate incentives for greening your home projects such as energy efficiency upgrades, is slowly sloshing its way through Congress. After an early March unveiling by the White House, the bill passed the House of Representatives on May 6 via a 246-161 vote. It is now languishing in Senate committees, which is why a diverse group of nationally recognized companies, labor and environmental organizations and associations called the Home Star Coalition is now urging the Senate to get off its butt and get the legislation moving.

The Home Star Coalition, in an open letter [PDF] to President Obama and the Senate, is asking for the Home Star legislation to be included in the pending Small Business Jobs legislation being considered. This bill may end up moving faster through the Senate if everyone can be made happy enough, as indicated by a recent New York Times article about its hasty introduction after passing the House. It is believed by the Coalition that Home Star will have huge benefits for everyone, including job creation for small businesses, savings for homeowners and, of course, better energy efficiency for homes.

Home Star is described by the Coalition representing 2,000 members, for those unfamiliar with it, as “a market-driven, low-bureaucracy program that would create jobs fast by scaling the existing home energy efficiency improvement industry. Home Star would use rebates and tax incentives to spur more Americans to start making their homes more energy efficient. It would establish a streamlined rebate program to encourage immediate investment in energy-efficient appliances, building mechanical systems and insulation, and whole-home energy efficiency retrofits.” It is believed that if it passes and is signed into law, Home Star could create 168,000 new jobs in construction and related industries over the next two years.

“Home Star is the right investment for the country at the right time. That time is now,” said Tracy Price, CEO of The Linc Group, in a statement. “Energy efficiency is not a partisan issue, as it helps move us toward greater energy independence and enhances our national security. This program is targeted at the largest marketplace in the country, existing homes, and will create jobs in a new industry that will thrive for decades.”

http://www.earthtechling.com/2010/07/home-star-clawing-way-through-senate/