NCBPA staff, members and partners have been active participants in the development of the state’s new Clean Energy Plan that was initiated in the fall of 2018 with Governor Cooper’s Executive Order #80. After months of meetings, discussions, surveys, presentations and reports, the draft plan is ready for public comment ahead of the October 1, 2019 deadline.
Here is a summary of the five strategies and 12 categories of recommendations found in the report;
File Your Public Comments by September 9th Online
NCBPA encourages all industry professionals to file comments in support of the many building performance and energy efficiency recommendations included in the report. To do so, please follow these steps by September 9th:
- Read all or parts of the plan to garner an understanding for what’s included There are 5 strategy areas and 12 comment categories available.
- Click here to access the draft Clean Energy Plan on the NCDEQ website.
- If wanted, instead download a version below with NCBPA comments on key priority areas. Doing so can save you time and make sure that you find our top priority areas to comment on.
- Prepare your comments individually as you will submit them one at a time through an online form. Identify the category you are commenting on and then the comment itself.
- When ready, click here to submit your comments using the online form. Do so by September 9th.
- Let us know if you have any feedback on the plan that you’d like NCBPA to share with our members, partners and industry-at-large.
Click below to download the draft Clean Energy Plan with NCBPA comments in key priority areas listed.
Here is a summary of NCBPA’s priority areas for industry comments as found in our version of the report:
- Utility Incentives & Comprehensive System Planning: Legislation signed into law by the Governor in June – HB675 – requires a new cost-benefit analysis methodology to be developed and implemented for all future (and past, going back to January 1 of 2018) energy code changes. This methodology should incorporate energy and non-energy benefits (NEBs) such as improved health, safety, durability, value and occupant productivity. Doing so will allow regulated utilities to also incorporate NEBs into their energy efficiency programs, making the measures delivered more valuable.
- Customer Access to Clean Energy & Economic Development: Commercial PACE is currently disallowed because of opposition from the Treasurer’s office. The Governor’s office and NCDEQ should work with the Treasurer’s office to resolve these issues. NCBPA has led advocacy efforts on this since 2017 and a draft bill still waits to be heard in Senate rules. A summary of the status of C-PACE in North Carolina is available here: http://buildingnc.org/get-involved/policy/cpace/.
- Equitable Access & Just Transition: Legislation signed into law by the Governor in June – HB675 – requires a new cost-benefit analysis methodology to be developed and implemented for all future (and past, going back to January 1 of 2018) energy code changes. This methodology should incorporate energy and non-energy benefits (NEBs) such as improved health, safety, durability, value and occupant productivity. Doing so will allow regulated utilities to also incorporate NEBs into their energy efficiency programs, making the measures delivered more valuable.
- Equitable Access & Just Transition: A formal Energy Efficiency Apprenticeship program would be very helpful for training and educating our future workforce.
- Carbon Reduction & Grid Resilience: Energy efficiency should be the first priority for our state to address its current and future carbon reduction goals. Energy efficiency is oftentimes the least cost option but continues to be overlooked in favor of more generation, even from clean sources, which would not be needed if energy efficiency were properly prioritized in the state.
- Energy Efficiency & Beneficial Electrification: All of these recommendations should be prioritized as energy efficiency is the least-cost resource for achieving our state’s clean energy goals and contributes a wealth of additional environmental, economic and workforce benefits to the state.
Contact NCBPA’s Ryan Miller at 919-521-3385 or Ryan@BuildingNC.org with questions and comments.
Thank you in advance for your participation!
