Energy efficiency isn’t about giving things up. It’s about doing
things better, and doing more with less energy. It’s the genius of
technological innovation – maximizing performance by boosting
efficiency.
Many old technologies today are using more energy than they should.
Smarter and more efficient choices are becoming available for
everything that consumes energy – lighting, pumps, chillers, fans,
motors, cooling coils, you name it. Because markets alone are often
inadequate in eliminating energy waste, Fresh Energy maintains that
legislation, regulation, and incentives are key components to a
successful transformation.
Our Work
Through state laws and regulations as well as proactive measures in
the private sector, Fresh Energy seeks to significantly increase the
market for energy-efficient technologies. Here’s what we’re doing to
accomplish those efforts...
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Encouraging Efficient Housing – We
encourage financial institutions to consider proximity to public
transit and energy efficiency as factors in mortgage lending
decisions. We also work with affordable housing advocates and
community development agencies to promote state-of-the-art
efficiency in their initiatives.
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Increasing Energy Saving Programs – Fresh
Energy serves as an advocate and watchdog to enhance the
energy-saving programs developed by utility companies.
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Promoting Green Buildings – We analyze and
develop new laws that promote energy efficiency (as well as
location efficiency) in new building construction. We help
government and industry take leading roles in constructing
innovative buildings that are good for the economy as well as
the environment.
Victories
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$1 Billion in Energy Savings – Fresh Energy
championed a law that requires utilities to help customers use
less energy, resulting in more than $1 billion in energy savings
investments since 1990.
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Saving Energy, Saving Sales Tax – We
promoted a Minnesota law that removes the sales tax from the
most energy-efficient appliances and from EPA Energy Star
compact fluorescent light bulbs.
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New Energy Codes – Fresh Energy
successfully secured new energy codes for commercial and
residential new building construction. These measures save
millions of dollars while preventing tons of pollutants and
carbon dioxide from filling our skies.
Future
Directions
Fresh Energy and its regional partners will take the best practices
of energy efficiency programs around the country and around the
world, make them even better, and implement them throughout the
Midwest.
If we can make it less painful for utilities to promote energy
savings, they will. One innovative way to do that is by promoting
decoupling – the separating of a utility company’s revenues from its
sales. That means the utility gets an agreed-upon income that isn’t
related to how much energy it sells. Already successful in
California, decoupling makes it easier for utilities to comply with
efficiency measures because they won’t lose money by selling less
energy.
What You Can Do
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Keep it Down – Home heating
accounts for the biggest chunk of a typical utility bill.
Install a programmable thermostat to automatically lower the
temperature at night or during the day when nobody is home.
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Flip the Energy Saver Switch
– Use the energy-saving settings on all your appliances whenever
possible.
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Light More, Use Less –
Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL)
bulbs. They use 66% less energy than a standard incandescent and
last up to 10 times longer. Replacing a 100-watt standard light
bulb with a 32-watt CFL can save you at least $30 in energy
costs over the life of the bulb.
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Start at Home – Make sure
your home and your business are energy efficient. Start with
good insulation and regularly invest in energy-efficient
upgrades whenever possible.
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