It is Now Time to Make Conservation a Priority in Federal Energy Policy [Gordon]
By BART GORDON
We can only expect consumers and businesses to adopt energy conservation technologies and practices if the Federal Government is ready to demonstrate leadership and make energy savings a priority now that the days of cheap energy are gone.
The government is the single largest energy consumer in the nation, and perhaps the world. The topic of energy has come to the forefront of the public’s and policymakers’ concerns in a manner not seen since President Carter implemented the conservation policies that still serve us today, yet there is a disconnect between energy conservation policies and the priorities Federal agencies place on conservation.
With a looming wintertime energy crunch and rapidly rising gas prices, the President last fall urged consumers and industry to save energy and committed to raising the profile of energy management in the Federal sector. In the first few months after becoming President, he also committed to implementing the Clinton administration’s Executive Order 13123, which contained definitive guidelines for Federal agencies in meeting energy-efficiency goals.
However, the one agency in the government charged with reducing energy consumption, the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), is suffering funding cuts year after year. The 2007 administration budget request for FEMP is almost one-half of the last Clinton budget request when adjusted for inflation. The same budget cuts overall funding for energy-efficiency programs to two-thirds the 2002 inflation-adjusted levels, with some programs being slashed or outright eliminated.
Few things provide the return on investment seen in rather simple energy-efficiency measures. A National Research Council study showed that every Federal dollar invested in energy-efficiency research and development programs yields $20 in benefits to the economy. A dollar spent on the Energy Star program alone returns approximately $75 in consumer savings, leverages $15 of private investment and contributes more than $60 to the economy, according to the Alliance to Save Energy.
Until the Energy Policy Act of 2005 took effect last year, compliance with the Executive Order was the metric of success in Federal energy conservation, with a goal of 30 percent reduction in energy consumption from the 1985 baseline by fiscal year 2005. Although the report to Congress on this goal is overdue, indications are that this goal was not met. Meanwhile, the agencies are expected to surpass by far another goal of using electricity from green or renewable sources.
What does it take to make energy efficiency a priority?
Last year’s energy bill gives the Federal agencies new targets for energy efficiency, raises standards for Federal buildings, requires energy metering in Federal buildings, directs agencies to procure Energy Star and FEMP-designated products and makes the authority to enter energy-savings performance contracts permanent. These are reasonable and lucrative, if not the most aggressive possible, goals for the agencies. The Alliance has calculated that full implementation of these requirements could alone save $1 billion a year by 2020.
With hundreds of thousands of buildings and billions of square feet of floor space, the Federal Government can wield enormous influence in the markets for energy efficient products and services. The Alliance estimates that the Federal Government could save a quarter of a billion dollars over the next five years just by complying with Energy Policy Act requirements for procuring Energy Star and FEMP-designated products. Yet agencies continue to resort to the tried-and-true, energy-wasting products. For example, the General Services Administration catalog still offers incandescent-lighted “EXIT” signs that never turn off, even though the LED-lighted signs are more cost-effective, easier to maintain and far more energy-efficient.
I have introduced three bills to address some of these issues. H.R. 4593 shortens the deadline for the installation of advanced meters on Federal buildings. H.R. 4594 requires the agencies to compare the actual building energy performance with the design criteria for new buildings. H.R. 4595 requires that congressional buildings comply with the same energy-efficiency standards as Federal agencies.
The House leadership has designated the last week of June as Energy Week on the floor. I hope these bills can be taken up and passed at that time.
Now is the time for the Federal Government to take the necessary steps to put its energy house in order. Doing so now will save significant taxpayer dollars as well as provide an example to building owners and operators of all sizes that energy conservation is good for the pocketbook and good for the environment.
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