Efficiency First

On August 4th, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo signed On Bill Financing legislation into law, meaning that by this time next year many New Yorkers will be able to pay for energy efficiency improvements the same way they pay for energy–on their utility bill. Since the bill’s passage, the Efficiency First New York Chapter has been [...]

Efficiency First New York applauds the passage of on-bill financing legislation, a job creation measure in the Power NY Act (A.8510-Cahill/S.5844-Maziarz) that will allow homeowners to finance energy-efficiency improvements through payments on their utility bill. On the eve of June 22nd, 2011 the legislation passed with overwhelming majorities in both houses (117-13 in the Assembly [...]

Over 60 energy efficiency professionals gathered in Kansas City this past Tuesday Night to launch Efficiency First Kansas City. This meeting was an opportunity for energy efficiency professionals of all types to meet each other and begin working together to grow the Home Performance industry in the Kansas City region. It was held at the [...]

From Beau D’Arcy, Owner of Effortless Efficiency:

Dozens of Home Performance professionals from over 30 companies in Illinois attended the first meeting of Efficiency First Illinois –the new trade association for Home Performance companies across the state. The event took place at the offices of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) in downtown Chicago.

The crowd represented many different facets of the efficiency market. We had whole home performance contractors, insulators, HVAC companies, window installers, energy auditors/raters, and some people who were looking to learn more about the home performance industry.

We talked about Efficiency First and why it will be important for us to have a local chapter, and explained how critical is was for everybody to become members of EF to help us “drive our own destiny”.

On Tuesday, home performance professionals in New York descended on Albany to ask state legislators to make their voices heard, as part of an Efficiency First New York-sponsored advocacy day. They made the trip to advocate for passage of On-Bill Recovery legislation which, if passed, would help homeowners retrofit their homes and create thousands of [...]

A new case study examines the economic effects of PACE for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects at the local level, including job growth, economic activity, and energy savings: Economic Impacts from the Boulder County, Colorado, ClimateSmart Loan Program: Using Property-Assessed Clean Energy Financing (http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/50555.pdf). The case study was funded by the DOE’s Solar America Communities [...]

Over 80 companies have signed a petition in support of the Mass Save redesign proposal from the Efficiency First Massachusetts Chapter. The proposal seeks to  expand rate-payer choices and allow greater contractor participation, based on a free market model that will drive job growth and innovation. View the proposal and find out more here. Efficiency [...]