Our Recent Work
Our Recent Work
Fighting for Energy Efficiency Programs During and Post Pandemic
The economic devastation wrought by the COVID-19 shutdown has led some advocates for big businesses and large industrial firms to ask utility commissions to immediately cut their utility bills—particularly any fees for energy efficiency program funding. BPA and its allies have mounted a response in an effort to oppose these cuts.
BPA's Strategy to Keep Energy Efficiency Workers Employed
Read more about the targeted and long-term strategy to keep workers employed throughout and after the COVID19 pandemic.
HOPE for HOMES
BPA has developed a $500 Million concept - the Contractor “Home Online Performance-based Energy-efficiency” (HOPE) Training for immediate support of contractor businesses. We've paired it with our on-going efforts to enact the $6 Billion Home Owner Managing Savings Act (HOMES) to be authorized through 2025 (or until expended) that would advance rebates for homeowners doing energy efficiency retrofits.
Access to Consumer Energy Information Act (E-Access Act)
BPA supports Congressman Peter Welch and applauds his effort to tackling this issue and calling on the Department of Energy to establish best practices and a common set of guidelines for safe and secure energy data access. Take action to support the E-Access Act.
New York
On April 2, 2020, the Building Performance Association, the Association for Energy Affordability, Inc., E4TheFuture and Performance Systems Development, Inc. filed joint comments with the New York State Public Service Commission in Case 18-M-0084 responding to the unprecedented public health crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the residential building energy efficiency industry. The joint comments called for a variety of emergency responses including that “the State and utilities should provide funds for training organizations to reformulate training to meet the existing circumstances…and should provide funding to energy efficiency employers for the salaries of workers undergoing online training.”
Connecticut
The Building Performance Association has been working in partnership with E4TheFuture, Energy Efficiencies Solutions EES and CT Efficiency for All to provide comments and feedback to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on COVID-19 response measures. BPA will be submitting comments written comments by 4:00 pm on Friday, April 17, 2020, on Online Workforce development programs and other response issues. BPA will also be supporting CT Efficiency for All efforts to further inform DEEP of contractors’ concerns and proposed solutions during the next DEEP Contractor Technical Advisory Committee (CTAC) meeting, via webinar, on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, where DEEP expects to discuss the concept of remote audits. The CTAC meeting can be accessed by registering here: https://ctdeep.zoom.us/j/872567817.
Pennsylvania
BPA Educates PA PUC on Cost Effectiveness Testing Reforms: A coalition of Pennsylvania based non-profit groups, including BPA, launched an education campaign to bring the best practices in energy efficiency programs from around the country to Harrisburg.
Solving the Climate Crisis: Cleaner Stronger Buildings:
Kara Saul Rinaldi, Vice President of Government Affairs and Policy for BPA testified before the House Select Committee and urged Congress to act to advance energy efficiency in buildings and pass legislation that will enable more American families and businesses to access efficiency upgrades. Read the press release and view the testimony here.
The Blue Collar to Green Collar Jobs Act of 2019:
BPA testified before the U.S. House of Representatives House Committee on Energy and Commerce on February 27, 2019, on the legislation which aims to support training for employment in clean energy industries including residential energy efficiency and renewable energy retrofits. The hearing was titled “Clean Energy Infrastructure and the Workforce to Build It.” Read the full testimony here.
