Efficiency First

Advertising executive Suzanne Shelton (CEO of the Shelton Group in Knoxville, Tenn.) has posted an interesting reaction to the recent Wall Street Journal article about the failure of Boulder residents to embrace energy retrofit measures on a large scale (see our reaction here). In a post on her agency’s blog, Shelton analyzes the consumer messaging [...]

Employment stimulus legislation moves forward with bipartisan support, paving the way for further job-related measures
Following yesterday’s test vote on a $15 billion job-creation package proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the first in a series of bills aimed at lowering the nation’s unemployment rate is poised to pass the Senate later this week. Congressional [...]

In widely cited article published by the Wall Street Journal this month, reporter Stephanie Simon painted a bleak picture of energy efficiency retrofit initiatives undertaken by the city of Boulder, Colo., which has offered free energy audits to homes and businesses but has seen disappointing follow-through in terms of efficiency upgrades. “Boulder has found that [...]

Efficiency First Chair Matt Golden makes the case for residential energy retrofit incentives
In a commentary published today on Forbes.com (the online presence of Forbes Magazine), Efficiency First Chair Matt Golden outlines the essential economic arguments in favor of using direct consumer incentives to spur growth in the home energy retrofit industry. Golden argues that with [...]

Trailblazing energy retrofit bill up to 80 sponsors in the House of Representatives
The office of Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont, sponsor of the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) Program Act introduced in March 2009, reports this week that the bill now has 80 sponsors in the House of Representatives. The list includes:

Gary Ackerman [...]

HOME STAR legislation still in the works as Senators unveil the first in a series of bipartisan job-creation bills
Today the senior Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee (Max Baucus of Montana and Charles Grassley of Iowa) unveiled the first in a series of job-creation bills currently under development on Capitol Hill. Congressional [...]

Near-real-time rate and usage information will help Californians manage electricity use and reduce costs
Late last year in the midst of the winter holidays, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) quietly handed down a set of policy decisions that will have a profound impact on energy management in the Golden State for years to come.
The provisions [...]

With nearly one in four construction workers unemployed, “no industry has taken it more on the chin”
Writing this week for the news site TIME.com, Kevin O’Leary has painted a truly bleak picture of the plight of American construction workers. Here’s an excerpt from the opening paragraph:
The middle and working-classes have been hammered by the Great [...]

Home Performance division fuels growth for New Jersey-based Princeton Air Conditioning
Back in October we blogged a CNN news report about Efficiency First member Princeton Air Conditioning, which had launched a new Home Performance division in partnership with another member company, GreenHomes America. Princeton Air is in the news again with the publication of an article [...]

Democratic Party leaders have been circulating a document that outlines a set of policy initiatives targeting near-term job creation. Under the heading “Creating Jobs Through Energy Efficiency,” the document states:
Home builders and contractors across the nation are struggling to make ends meet; homeowners are finding it hard to keep up with the rising costs of [...]