State public utility commissions (PUCs) could make major progress toward achieving energy efficiency if they utilized the tools available to them, according to a study released August 14 by Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law. The report, “Public Utilities Commissions & Energy Efficiency: A Handbook of Legal & Regulatory Tools […]
Energy Efficiency
61 posts
By Shelley Welton, CCCL Deputy Director and Fellow This summer is an important time for clean energy enthusiasts to pay closer attention to the complex, technical world of electric transmission planning and siting. In July 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order No. 1000, the latest in a […]
By Adam Riedel, CCCL Associate Director Environmental impact statements (EISs) should analyze the potential for energy efficiency to reduce the adverse impacts of new projects, to make the projects smaller, or to provide more benign alternatives. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its state counterparts require EISs for major […]
By Michael Kerstetter The Center for Climate Change Law has published a working paper on bundling solutions for energy efficiency (EE) retrofit projects in residential and commercial buildings. The paper provides a brief discussion on the EE retrofit market generally, touching on the current efficiency gap and barriers to EE […]
By Julia Ciardullo Fellow On April 27, 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) published a proposed final regulation regarding the use of forest biomass for generating energy in Massachusetts. If adopted, the regulation would be the first to set greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for determining the eligibility […]
by Shelley Welton Deputy Director & Earth Institute Climate Law Fellow Earlier this month, citing reliability concerns, PJM, the mid-Atlantic’s regional transmission operator, asked FirstEnergy Corp. of Ohio to keep three coal-fired power plants in operation for the next three years that the company had previously scheduled to be shut […]
by Shelley Welton, Deputy Director & Fellow MIT released an interdisciplinary study on December 5, 2011, that examines “The Future of the Electric Grid.” Among many interesting findings, it nicely details the challenges we will face in adapting the electric grid to accommodate all the anticipated renewable resources coming on-line […]
by Shelley Welton, Deputy Director In October, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an interesting though little-noted report on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) energy efficiency and capital expenditures planning. The report does an excellent job of illustrating how even commendable efforts at energy efficiency can fall short if a […]