Future Energy Conference: PacifiCorp, NW Energy Coalition experts address efficiency | Sustainable Business Oregon

Utility experts told attendees of the Future Energy Conference that their industry faces several questions as customers, in looking to reduce their various energy footprints, demand more efficient options.

Wendy Gerlitz, a senior policy analyst with the Coalition, offered five key questions for utilities, and their business customers, to use when analyzing energy efficiency offerings…

Read More

High-benefit, low-cost efficiency bill dies in Washington state Senate

A commonsense, non-controversial bill that would have cut $60 million a year from Washingtonians’ utility bills died today in the Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications committee.

Committee chair Senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) opted against calling for a vote on Substitute House Bill 1017, Equipment Efficiency Standards, prior to the 10 a.m. cutoff. Failure to advance the bill is a great disservice to families and businesses throughout the state…

Read More

Washington state media lends support to energy efficiency

Two major Washington media outlets have come out in support of energy efficiency and Senate/House Bill 1017. The measure sets efficiency standards for those ubiquitous battery chargers used by the growing number of electronic devices in our homes, as well as industrial and recreational chargers for forklifts and golf carts. The worst of these chargers waste up to 60 percent of the electricity they consume.

Read More

Ron Simms on I-937: People power means clean power for the people of Washington state

Washington voters in 2006 approved the state’s clean-energy law, Initiative 937, setting new standards for energy efficiency and use of renewable energy. It was a vote for clean energy, new economic investment and a brighter future.

If you’re following the state legislative session, you might think voters were mistaken. Our legislators introduced more than 20 bills to amend or gut the law this year alone. But while some legislators seem to think I-937 is bad for Washington, I’m with the governor in recognizing that it’s good for the economy, good for consumers and good for the environment…

Read More

Washington's SHB 1017 – Equipment Efficiency Standards

Good for the Consumer, Good for the Environment, Good for the Economy

Already, refrigerators, furnaces, exit signs, commercial hot-food holding cabinets and many more products are meeting federal or state efficiency standards. HB 1017 would add the next generation of low-cost, high benefit measures to Washington’s existing efficiency standards, saving energy, reducing water waste and saving millions of dollars on consumer utility bills..

Read More

WA environmental community announces its 2013 legislative priorities

Clean energy, toxic-free couches and kids’ products, and more funding for projects that protect the environment will be on legislators’ agendas for the 2013 legislative session in Olympia as Washington State’s Environmental Priorities Coalition announced its 2013 Priorities. These three Priorities are critical in protecting the state’s quality of life, creating Washington grown jobs, and preserving a better future for our children.

Read More

Idaho Statesman: Energy-efficiency success stories

J.R. Simplot Co. has embraced energy efficiency as a core business value. The Idaho food, fertilizer and chemical company has dramatically reduced its use of electricity and natural gas, saving millions of dollars annually.

The company says energy-efficiency improvements since 2009 have yielded natural gas savings of 1.3 trillion British thermal units and 390,821,028 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The electricity reduction is equivalent to taking 35,400 homes off the grid. The reduction also saved 95,056 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions, like taking 29,929 cars of the road.

Here are three other successes…Read more at the Idaho Statesman

Read More

PSE, Mason, Lewis and Grays Harbor reach clean energy benchmarks

Regional electricity providers from Puget Sound Energy to Grays Harbor County Public Utility District recorded impressive accomplishments over the first reporting period for Washington’s clean energy law, Initiative 937. “These utilities should be commended for their energy efficiency achievements, which will save money for their customers,” said Nancy Hirsh, policy director for the Coalition.

Read More

ID Energy Update: A Win for Wind, A Loss for Efficiency

Read this and previous reports on Snake River Alliance’s website.   Idaho Energy Update October 4, 2012   The Snake River Alliance has a new home in Boise! The Alliance recently relocated from our former digs at 9th & Jefferson in downtown Boise to 6th & Idaho. We’ll have an office warming celebration from 5:30-7:30…

Read More

Avista, Inland far surpass clean energy goals

Regional electricity providers Avista Utilities and Inland Power and Light recorded impressive accomplishments over the first reporting period for Washington’s clean energy law, Initiative 937.

Read and hear the exciting news about clean energy progress in the Spokane area ….

Read More