BPA and ACEEE worked closely with Energy Efficient West Virginia to emphasize what we witness in states across the country: that properly designed and implemented energy efficiency and demand response (EE/DR) programs save money, create jobs, and benefit all customers. West Virginia is currently ranked 48th in the nation among states in per capita employment in energy efficiency businesses and industries. BPA and ACEEE’s comments “urged the Commission to consider energy efficiency’s critical role in job creation in your deliberations.”
BPA and ACEEE’s comments also stressed a related benefit of EE/DR programs – that “energy efficiency also provides significant and quantifiable health benefits.” The comments focused on two recent seminal reports: Saving Energy, Saving Lives: The Health Impacts of Avoiding Power Plant Pollution with Energy Efficiency and the Energy-Plus-Health Playbook. Both Reports describe several EE/DR program models that could easily be adopted or deployed in West Virginia.
BPA continues to work with members and affiliates like Energy Efficient West Virginia and local contractors who provide the “nuts and bolts” of efficiency upgrades to homes and buildings across Appalachia and the U.S. We are proud of the high-quality services that members and affiliates deliver and the skilled jobs that they create in communities in West Virginia and across the country. ACEEE is a valued and critical partner as we work together to support EE/DR programs in the states.
Joe Cullen, Director of Policy & State Outreach at Building Performance Association
