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| Home > Conservation Lobby Day
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Missourians Tell Legislators: Energy Efficiency Now!
New "Game-Changing" policies will save home owners money on utility bills and create thousands of in-state jobs
At Conservation Lobby Day on Wednesday, February 3, citizens from across Missouri convened at the State Capitol to urge legislators to update the state's outdated energy efficiency policies. Participants carried signs calling for “Energy Efficiency Now!” and listened to state energy efficiency policy experts and Missouri home energy auditors speak of the benefits of efficiency and of legislative solutions for improved efficiency.
PJ Wilson, of Renew Missouri, explained that Missouri currently ranks 41st in the country for energy efficiency - costing Missourians millions of extra dollars a year in electricity costs. Missouri also has one of the nation's fastest rising energy rates, something made worse by the struggling economy. "Embracing energy efficiency now will both create in-state jobs and ease concerns about our electric rates today and in the future. Right now we’re on a path of wasting energy, and the policies we’re recommending will get us on a path of efficiency," says Wilson.
PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) is one of the four policies Renew Missouri recommends for the 2010 legislative session. PACE is proving to be successful in 15 states and is often consider a "game-changer" for energy efficiency and renewable energy. PACE is state-enabling legislation that allows cities and counties to opt-in to a program that would pay all the upfront costs of renewable energy and energy efficiency renovations for homes and businesses. Project costs are repaid by the building owner through a special property tax assessment over 20 years, and annual energy savings always outweigh the yearly tax assessment payments.
PACE's revenue neutral characteristics make it an easy win for legislators and municipalities; it already is receiving bipartisan support in Jefferson City. "PACE provides a longer-term financing scheme for energy efficiency upgrades, so home-owners will make improvements with very low up-front costs. By spreading out the payments over the course of 20 years, the energy savings gained each month on electric bills often make the upgrades net positive from day one," says Marc Bluestone, of Missouri Association of Accredited Energy Professionals (MAAEP).
Beyond lower electric bills, pursuing energy efficiency also increases a home's overall value. "Homes with efficiency sell faster, spend fewer days on the market, and sell for a higher percentage of the listing price -- people are starting to figure out that efficiency pays while you live in a home and when it's time to sell," said Bluestone.
Damien Flaherty, of EnergyAudits.com and MAAEP, described the overlap of economic and security benefits of efficiency. "Currently, Missouri imports 95% of its energy resources -- coal, natural gas, oil. We can reduce our future reliance on fossil fuels by improving the 2 million existing homes in Missouri. We can make these buildings more efficient and therefore use less imported fuels. Also, making our homes more energy efficient will undoubtedly create tens of thousands of in-state jobs that can't be outsourced or sent overseas."
At Conservation Lobby Day, citizens also met with legislators throughout the day encouraging action on efficiency. Conservation Lobby Day is an annual event sponsored by the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Missouri Votes Conservation, and the Missouri Sierra Club.
Renew Missouri recommends a suite of four "best practice" efficiency priorities. More information can be found at www.RenewMo.org. Renew Missouri is a project of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, has successfully transformed renewable energy policy in Missouri with its work on the Easy Connection Act in 2007 and on Proposition C, a renewable electricity standard, in 2008.
You can find more information on Conservation Lobby Day on the Missouri Votes Conservation website, including info sheets on the issues.
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