Energy efficiency Act helps in the fight against climate change

To maneuver, after months of behind the scenes, it seems that the Senate will debate soon on critically important laws that could save American consumers, businesses and the Federal Government hundreds of millions of dollars annually using less energy. And with less energy, a large leg gives us in the fight against climate change.

Simply put, a "win-win" for all would this bi-partisan legislation.

Improving energy efficiency should be a national priority - no mercy. Today, there are an infinite list low-cost, commercially available technologies, the improvement of energy efficiency and can pay for itself over a short period of time.

Our country's energy law helps to reduce the energy savings and competitiveness Act, also known as Shaheen Portman, create our economic competitiveness, new American jobs and improve U.S. energy security. It was through a coalition of more than 200 companies, associations and interest groups, including the confirmed solar energy industries Association (SEIA).

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) deserve great credit for this sensible legislation forward move and that the question of energy efficiency on the front burner in Congress.

As the second largest consumer of energy in the world second only to China - it is of vital importance to the United States energy efficiency to improve. Take for example the use of computers. By some estimates, typical computer between 65 to 250 Watts used one while a monitor burn an other 35 to 80 watts. Multiply, distributed by 310 million computers across the United States, and you look around an enormous amount of electricity used every day - only makes our computers!

Among other things, Shaheen Portman requires the Federal Government to come up with new power-saving features of your computer as the largest energy consumer in the United States. This saves not only energy, but also the taxpayers.

According to the energy information administration, residential and commercial buildings are currently almost 3/4ths all power consumption in the United States. Reducing the amount of wasted energy will help our economy as well as the environment.

Senator Shaheen said it best: "The cheapest energy is the energy we don't use."

Wasted energy, Shaheen Portman also shorten:

Strengthens national model building codes to make efficient new homes and commercial buildings more energy.Efficiency Upgrades.Hilft provides incentives for private sector investment in commercial, industrial and municipal buildings manufacturers reduce energy consumption and more competitive through efficiency upgrades. federal authorities to use existing resources to plans for new federal buildings, with the most current update can Baunormen.Legt efficiency a new DOE program - SupplySTAR - help companies to make that their supply chains more efficient.
America's solar industry is doing its part. Today, more than 30 utility-scale clean energy projects under construction, are thousands of electricians, Steelworkers and workers to work and contribute, the CO2 emissions to bring. These facilities together with roof solar will help on real estate, businesses and schools, to generate clean, abundant energy for future generations.

Innovative solar heating and cooling systems offer low-cost, efficient options American consumers, businesses, and schools to meet their energy needs while reducing their energy consumption.

As an industry, we are very concerned about climate change. It is a real and growing threat to America and the rest of the world.

Shaheen Portman is a smart, sensible approach to combating climate change, by reducing the amount of energy we use and waste.

Improved building efficiency, R & D, cost-saving programs, Shaheen Portman should one increased get balanced and pragmatic approach to the biggest bang for our money, when it comes to energy. Will it be this year? Hopefully. Should it pass this year? Absolute. This is an opportunity that we simply cannot afford to lose.

Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the solar energy industries Association

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Online Energy Department Tool Helps Consumers Cut Bills

The Energy Department announced on April 30 that it has launched the Utility Data Access Map tool, an interactive Web platform that enables electric utilities across the country to show customers, in a simple way, the data they can access on their electricity use. DOE has already received responses from more than 500 participating utilities.

Many consumers do not have enough data or they are not aware of the data they can access to make informed decisions about energy efficiency measures that could save them money. Among those who do have access to their data, some lack the ability to share it with service providers who might help them identify energy savings opportunities and verify savings once improvements have been made.

The Utility Data Access Map tool provides "crowd-sourced" maps in user-friendly formats based on information gathered from electricity providers nationwide. It highlights local access to electricity data and allows consumers to compare their electricity data access to others in their state and across the country. The data access maps display different features of consumer electricity data, including the time period and timeliness of data—informing consumers, for example, whether their utility supplies same-day electricity use information—and the extent to which the data can be shared. By helping consumers better understand their energy use and providing new ways to compare, local utilities are adopting "smart grid" technologies. See the DOE Progress Alert, the Utility Data Access Map, and the DOE OpenEI website, a collaborative system managed by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

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