Study ranks N.C. 8th on jobs potential from energy efficiency

North Carolina ranks eighth among states with the greatest potential for economic development through energy-efficiency policies, according to a report by a national think tank and an energy-investment firm.

It’s the only Southeastern state in the top 10, which is led by Connecticut, California and Maryland. Florida is the only other Southeastern state in the top 20, ranked 18.

The report was released Tuesday by the Center for American Progress and Energy Resource Management Corp.

Ten criteria

“Our country needs a national program to retrofit America’s homes, offices, and factories for energy efficiency — a program that can provide an important answer to the jobs crisis facing our country,” the study’s authors say. “But it will take public-policy leadership to mobilize the private-sector investment that is needed to grow this emerging market. Fortunately, many states around the country are already demonstrating that it is possible to jumpstart market demand for energy-efficiency retrofits.”
It ranked the states on 10 criteria, including the cost of electricity, renewable-energy policies and regulatory openness to efficiency efforts.

All of the states ranked in the top 20 had some renewable-energy policies. But North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast with a renewable-energy portfolio standard that sets a minimum requirement for renewable-energy and energy-efficiency projects.

Modest standard

While the target of 12.5% of the power sold in the state by 2021 due to come from renewables and efficiency is seen by some as modest, it clearly helped North Carolina in the rankings.
But other factors helped raise the state’s score. The report praises Duke Energy’s Save-A-Watt program as a good example of regulatory efforts to encourage investment in efficiency and production. Ohio, which ranked No. 10, also has Save-A-Watt operating in Duke’s service area around Cincinnati.

North Carolina’s relatively low electricity costs hurt its ranking. States with high costs for power obviously have a greater incentive to promote energy efficiency. Six of the top 10 states had power costs well above the national average.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Charlotte to get $400K in green funds

The city of Charlotte will receive $400,000 in federal funding to pilot financial tools to promote energy efficiency.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Retrofit Ramp-Up award is designed to foster energy efficiency in the residential and commercial sectors.

Mayor Anthony Foxx and officials from the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and energy department are scheduled to announce the award Thursday at a 2 p.m. press conference at the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Government Center.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Report: 55,000 Carolinas Jobs From Energy Efficiency

Researchers at Georgia Tech and Duke University say investing $2.46 billion in aggressive energy-efficiency programs over the next 20 years would net the Carolinas $6.3 billion in lower energy costs and create 55,500 new jobs.

The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance released the report, “Energy Efficiency in the South,” on Tuesday. It includes a breakdown of the projected costs and benefits for 16 Southern states. Overall, the region could see energy bills reduced $41 billion and 380,000 new jobs created if it invested $18.2 billion in efficiency.

The report team was led Marilyn Brown of Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy and Etan Gumerman of Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. Brown was a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change team that shared the 2007 Nobel Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.

During a conference call Monday, Brown said aggressive implementation of nine basic efficiency policies could hold power consumption essentially flat through 2030. Gumerman said the South could avoid construction of up to 100 new power plants through that period.
For residential power users, the plan calls for stronger building codes, new standards and incentives for high-efficiency appliances, expanded weatherization programs for low-income housing and new standards for retrofitting homes.

Commercial appliances and retrofits would also have require higher standards under the proposal. For industrial users, the report recommends investment in upgrading industrial utility plants, improving industrial processes and much broader use of electricity generated by waste heat from industrial production.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Goodwill gets funding for job training

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded Goodwill Industries International a $7.3 million grant that includes funds earmarked for the organization’s Charlotte-based chapter.

The grant, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will be used to fund job-training programs.

Goodwill Industries International will divide the money among six of its agencies, including Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont. The organization will focus on training for jobs in energy-efficient building construction, renewable electric power, and energy-efficiency assessment.

A spokeswoman says the local chapter will receive more than $1.5 million.

In addition, nonprofit MDC Inc. of Chapel Hill will receive $3.7 million to train workers in Charlotte, South Carolina and Virginia in green jobs.

Both grants are part of the federal government’s Pathways Out of Poverty program.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal