Utility Ecosystem Key to Energy Efficiency

(Mark Your Calendars. The 11th Annual RealShare Washington, DC convenes at the Ritz Carlton, June 1. Click here for more information.)

WASHINGTON, DC-Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) would like to rebrand the energy efficiency movement. It started out as a push for energy conservation several decades ago, he noted, and that term was never well-received by most consumers. ‘Energy efficiency’ is better, but Warner bets that a movement dubbed energy productivity would be eagerly embraced by both businesses and consumers.

Warner made his comments as keynote speaker at a half-day event here hosted by the Alliance to Save Energy. While his comments were somewhat in jest, he was quite serious about their larger point. “The future of energy efficiency is bright, but I do have concerns,” he said. “It seems like the financial case for energy efficiency would be a no-brainer, but we haven’t been able to fully make the case why this is important.”

Participants in the event--executives and industry representatives from utilities and business groups--tended to agree about the need for greater visibility of this issue, although throughout the presentations the theme of ongoing improvement was clear. “I don’t know of any businesses that aren’t at least aware of the need for energy-efficiency measures,” said Thomas Kuhn, president of Edison Electric Institute.

How to best meet this goal, however, is subject to debate. Policy at both the federal and state level is key, but with Congress still in a dead-heat it is hard to envision leadership from that quarter. “We are frustrated that Congress is not moving forward with this,” said Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the American Gas Association and former member of Congress. “When they saw ‘all in’ it’s just rhetoric.”

One solution would be greater incentives to get the private sector involved, said John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable and former governor of Michigan. For example, GSA is working to make government buildings energy efficient—but over a lengthy time period. “Why not hand the task over to the private sector, get the job done now and start reaping the benefits much sooner?” he asked, to some applause in the crowd.

Buy in from consumers is also necessary, said Cal Dooley, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council. “We always see pushback from homebuilders on the building standards designed around energy efficiency. They claim they’re too expensive. But what if consumers pushed back and demanded these standards and these technologies in their homes?” When people look for homes to buy, he said, they can find all kinds of information about the homes and how they stack up against similar houses—except, how energy-efficient the specific houses are.