Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy Hearing
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Chairman
As the Commissioner of the
From the outset, I want to applaud Senator Franken for holding this hearing and his leadership on energy efficiency and renewable energy. Today, I want to share some of
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Conservation Improvement Program
Energy efficiency is a cost effective means to decrease the amount of energy used.
Buildings - B3 and SB2030
Minnesotans recognize the importance of understanding how our buildings work. Starting in 2004, all public buildings were evaluated using an innovative benchmarking tool. During that time, sustainable building design guidelines were also developed for all public buildings that received bond funds. In 2008, the guidelines expanded to become the Sustainable Buildings 2030 program -standards that significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions by lowering energy use in new and substantially renovated buildings through cost effective, energy efficiency performance standards. The 40 buildings designed to the SB2030 Energy Standard so far are predicted to save approximately 250 million kBTUs per year--saving
The benchmarking tool--B3--has become the energy management tool used by all state agencies, allowing them to gauge which buildings are most cost effective to retrofit. Senator
Solar Electricity Standard/RES
In 2013, the state adopted a solar electricity standard to obtain 1.5 percent of investor-owned utility retail electricity sales from solar electricity by the end of 2020. This solar standard is on top of
Value of Solar Tariff
Renewable Energy Integration Study
LINKS WITH FEDERAL PROGRAMS
State Energy Program
Much of the work that I have described has been completed utilizing resources from the U.S. State Energy Program (SEP). This federally-funded program has been instrumental in the last two decades as
The State Energy Program also has a history of success working across all sectors of the economy and supporting cost-effective energy efficiency improvements. The last comprehensive study of the program by
Energy Assurance - Propane Situation
State Energy Program staff also leads the
Our State Energy Program and state-supported energy assurance efforts, in conjunction with the technical and analytical resources of DOE are our nation's first line of defense in limiting the health and safety impacts of energy supply emergencies--big and small--that happen every year from weather, cyber, and other market disruptions. Importantly, more rapid restoration of liquid fuel, natural gas, and electricity services also means a faster return to normal economic activity, which makes a real difference in communities across the country every year. Increasingly, energy supply disruptions are impacted by interdependencies among energy infrastructure (electric, gasoline, and diesel) and other market sectors (e.g., rail, water, cyber, food supplies). The state-federal-private energy emergency and interdependencies efforts led by DOE and the states need your support and elevation with regard to the great value they deliver to consumers and businesses and their relevance to the nation's economic and energy security.
In addition, we are doing all we can to provide assistance through the
These two federal programs provide important links to ongoing state work. We strongly encourage you to restore funding for the
We also support the Coons (D-DE), Collins (R-ME), Reed (D-RI) bill (S.1213) to reauthorize State Energy Program and
EE/RE as 111(d) Compliance Options
In a letter to EPA Secretary McCarthy on
CONCLUSION
Thank you, Chairman
I look forward to your questions.
Read this original document at: http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=c7157c0b-98b3-495d-a04a-d8aee401c188
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