As the year comes to a close, it's a good time to take stock of what's happened with energy efficiency over the last 12 months, where we've made the greatest strides, and what challenges and opportunities lie ahead for 2004.
Not since the fuel shortages of the 1970s has energy been such a hotly debated public policy topic. Energy policy was an underlying theme in the war in Iraq, the Northeast Blackout, natural gas shortages and accompanying price increases, and in the recent efforts to pass an omnibus national energy bill.
In light of these matters and others, it's never been more important for the energy efficiency community to grasp the opportunities available to us to help policymakers realize the tremendous potential that energy efficiency offers for addressing shortages in our natural gas markets; in state and regional climate change action plans; in regional and national electricity system reliability planning; and in programs that will help consumers deal with rising energy costs.
At stake is an energy system that will still rely much too heavily on foreign sources of oil; a natural gas supply that will continue to be strained as costs continue to soar; detrimental impacts on our economy; an environment that will continue to suffer; and an outdated power system that will fail again as it did in August.
While this very broad outlook is impossible to ignore, we continue to pursue our mission on a regional basis, working within an energy efficiency program framework that is the rival of the rest of the country, and helping to influence public policy with a network of partners who are all committed to using these partnerships for the broader benefit of our economy, environment and energy system.
This work has met with much success in 2003. Just recently, thanks to the work of Environment Northeast and others through the Connecticut Energy Conservation Management Board, energy efficiency was included with other demand side responses when ISO-New England issued an emergency request for proposals (RFP) to address system reliability issues in Southwest Connecticut. (A description of this development is included in this issue with a link to the full text of the RFP.)
On other fronts, we've seen energy efficiency included as a key element to the climate change action plans unveiled in several Northeast states, as well as in the regional strategy being developed through the New England Governor's Conference/Eastern Canadian Premiers. It was given prominence in energy planning being done in New Jersey, where Gov. James MacGreevey urged his fellow Northeast governors in supporting energy efficiency standards (click here to access a current table detailing efforts to date).
Energy efficiency was a key recommendation in the final report of the New England Demand Response Initiative, and it's beginning to be recognized as a key component in addressing the aforementioned natural gas shortages and price increases. Efficiency was included as a prominent recommendation in the findings of the National Petroleum Council on gas shortages, and, just recently, our partners at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy presented their own findings reinforcing the role energy efficiency can play with natural gas.
Natural gas will continue to be an issue that will dominate much of the energy efficiency dialogue in the coming year. While some states have exemplary natural gas efficiency programs already in place, many others do not, and will have to be convinced of their importance.
Therein lies one of our many opportunities: in the absence of a federal energy policy mandating these steps, such state and regional efforts must be our focus. Working at this level means that we should include not only regulators and policymakers, but businesses and trade associations as well, educating them on energy efficiency and how it is a viable short- and long-term solution to many of our current energy problems.
We also need to remain diligent to any attempts to underfund, raid or otherwise downgrade state commitments to systems benefit charge energy efficiency programs. Many excellent and innovative programs have stemmed from such commitments, and now is not the time to consider short-sighted strategies that would impact their effectiveness.
In short, energy efficiency policy needs to work hand-in-hand with energy efficiency programs to build upon many of the successes we realized this year. Looking into 2004 and beyond, we realize the opportunities that can lie within the challenges we face. To do so will mean effectively adhering to the NEEP mission by building even stronger coalitions; maintaining a keen focus on achieving the results that will affect the entire energy landscape; and leveraging our pooled resources to position us to better affect the status quo.
Ashok Gupta
President, NEEP Board of Directors