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Help is on the way to solve problems of energy costs
Nonprofit organization dedicated to green jobs will serve future needs
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Published: June 27, 2009
According to the N.C. Employment Security Commission's May report, the jobless rate in North Carolina has reached 11.1 percent -- putting us among the seven states most deeply affected by the recession.
According to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. government, the average retail price of electricity for North Carolina residential customers went up almost 6 percent between January 2008 and January 2009, with a rise in all sectors (residential, commercial, industrial and transportation) of 8 percent during that period.
According to data from the Carbon Analysis Indicators Tool maintained by the World Resources Institute, per capita CO2 emissions by the state of North Carolina between the years of 1960 and 2005 were greater than all but four of the nations of the world: Luxembourg, Estonia, the United States and Qatar.
With a tight job market, high energy prices and excessive CO2 emissions posing a three-headed problem, we are blessed that some level-headed legislators have introduced a triple-pronged solution, House Bill 1050. Known as NC SAVE$ ENERGY, the bill will create jobs while lowering electricity bills and reducing our output of carbon into the atmosphere -- all without raising taxes or contributing to the state's budget deficit.
NC SAVE$ ENERGY establishes an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to creating new green jobs and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by helping low-and-moderate income residents with their energy bills.
Thirty-two organizations from the consumer protection, housing, justice, civil-rights, faith and environmental communities have worked together to bring this good plan to the General Assembly, where it has three primary sponsors and 17 co-sponsors in the N.C. House. The former lead sponsor, Dan Blue, has now moved to the Senate, where he will advocate for it when it reaches that body. Legislators from all sides of the political table will find it serves the economic, moral, health and social needs of their constituents.
The program would be paid for initially by a small surcharge on utility bills that is projected to total $60 million each year. That money, which could be supplemented from other sources, would be awarded to nonprofit and for-profit contractors on a competitive basis through grants and loans. The contractors would perform services that include weatherizing buildings, installing appliance upgrades, and applying efficiency technology such as timers for lights and thermostats.
Six states have implemented programs with a similar design, programs that have helped millions of customers lower energy costs, created thousands of jobs, and reduced greenhouse gases by millions of tons per year. (For information about existing programs see www.cwfnc.org.) In New York, participating households have been saving an average of $225 a year on utility bills.
In particular, H1050 will serve the needs of low- and middle-income residents, who pay a higher percentage of their earnings for utilities. An April 2008 report by Fisher Sheehan and Colton indicates that North Carolina residents living 50 percent below the national poverty level paid 59.3 percent of their annual income on energy bills. The legislation specifies that anyone eligible to participate in federal or state subsidy programs may apply for an exemption from the surcharge, and may also receive some services at no charge. Typically that would include low-income residential customers who make less than 200 percent of the North Carolina poverty standard.
NC SAVE$ ENERGY is timely for all ratepayers with regard to plans by Duke Energy and Progress Energy to build new power plants costing an estimated $40 billion to $50 billion in today's dollars. The price for new nuclear power is 25 cents per kilowatt hour, and, using Progress Energy figures, people can expect electric bills 50 percent higher if the projected nuclear plant is built. In comparison, the cost for energy efficiency is 4 to 5 cents per kilowatt hour. Applying energy efficiency now will reduce the need to build these expensive plants.
With the employment, the climate and the shelter of the state's people at risk, let's put North Carolinians to work reducing North Carolina's CO2 emissions by installing energy-saving measures in existing households, which prove to be a greater source of energy savings than upgrading either industrial or business facilities.
H1050 will lower the jobless rate, cut energy expenses and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions -- in one low-cost program.
We hope a pro-consumer ethic will prevail, powered by an informed and active citizenry making its voice heard.
■ Alice Loyd is the former director of N.C. Interfaith Power & Light. The Journal welcomes original submissions for North Carolina Voices on local, regional and statewide topics. Essay length should not exceed 750 words. The writer should have some authority for writing about his or her subject.
Our e-mail address is: Letters@wsjournal.com. You may also mail a typed essay to: Letters to the Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Please include your name and address and a daytime telephone number.
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