MEDIA ADVISORY: March 3, 2014
Contact: Shane Levy, Sierra Club - shane.levy@sierraclub.org, 201-679-9507
Jodi Perras, Sierra Club - jodi.perras@sierraclub.org,
Energy Efficiency Businesses To Urge Lawmakers To Protect Jobs & Savings
Join with Citizens, Faith, Environmental Groups At Wednesday Press Conference
WHAT: Energy efficiency job creators from across Indiana will join with citizens' groups and faith leaders on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to protect energy efficiency jobs and savings for Hoosiers throughout the state. Last week, the Indiana House approved a version of Senate Bill 340 that will end the state’s energy efficiency program by prohibiting the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) from requiring utilities to meet energy savings goals. SB 340 would also prohibit the IURC from extending or entering into a new contract to run the program. The State Senate is now considering the legislation. Since it began in January 2012, Energizing Indiana has directly supported 400 Hoosier jobs and saved enough energy to power 78,500 homes for a year.
If the Statehouse attack on energy efficiency programs succeeds, electricity costs will rise by hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of Hoosier jobs in the energy efficiencyeconomy will be lost.
ATTENTION ASSIGNMENT EDITORS:
STRONG VISUALS!
LARGE BANNERS AND PLACARDS
DIVERSE CROWD OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY BUSINESSES, ACTIVISTS
WHO:
Chris Maher - Energy Outfitter, a Westfield-based home and business insulation and energy solutions company
Bill Bissmeyer - B&B Energy, an Indianapolis based industrial energy savings specialist
Sam Sirkin - JACO Environmental, an energy efficiency services company that recently installed an advanced appliance recycling plant in Indianapolis.
Ed Gerardot - Executive Director, Indiana Community Action Association (INCAA)
Rev. Wyatt Watkins - Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light board member and Pastor of Cumberland First Baptist Church in Indianapolis
Kerwin Olson - Executive Director, Citizens Action Coalition
Jodi Perras - Indiana Campaign Representative, Sierra Club Beyond Coal
WHEN:
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
10:00 AM
WHERE:
Indiana Statehouse, South Atrium
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BACKGROUND:
In its first year, Energizing Indiana created as many as 400 direct jobs and served 200,000 Hoosier households and businesses. An independent evaluation concluded that for every dollar spent on “demand-side management” programs, Indiana utilities saved two dollars, resulting in more than $80 million in savings in 2012. Industrial and commercial programswere even more cost-effective -- saving $3.19 for every dollar spent.
Energy efficiency programs also protect Hoosier ratepayers from the cost of building expensive new power plants that are not needed. In a study released last year, the State Utility Forecasting Group predicted that Indiana's energy efficiency program will save 1,800 megawatts in peak energy demand by 2022. These savings would avoid the need to build 2.5 power plants the size of the Harding Street Power Station on the south side of Indianapolis.
Indiana recently achieved full-scale implementation of the statewide energy efficiency programs, and recent progress helped the state move up six spots in the rankings of American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) 2013 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard to 27th, ahead of states like Kentucky and Missouri. Just the statewide “core” energy efficiency programs alone are saving 25 times more electricity than the utilities were under the old “voluntary” approach in 2008, according to ACEEE.
The energy efficiency business leaders at Wednesday’s event join with a diverse coalition of citizens, faith, and environmental groups including the Sierra Club, Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light, Indiana NAACP, Citizens Action Coalition, Hoosier Environmental Council, and the Indiana Distributed Energy Alliance that are opposed to the legislation.