LTTF ENDORSES AECP LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL
The Legislative Transition Task Force (LTTF) unanimously endorsed the AECP proposal at their meeting in Richmond on January 7, 2003. The LTTF is the legislative group that is overseeing the transition from a regulated electric utility industry in Virginia to a non-regulated environment. AECP’s proposal is now a bill – House Bill 2317 – and the Chief Patron is Delegate Kenneth Plum. This bill, if passed, would require a 3- cent per month charge applied to every residential electric account (36 cents per year) in Virginia and that the money collected would then be deposited into the Home Energy Assistance Fund. The total amount collected each year would be in excess of $1 million dollars. The Virginia Department of Social Services is responsible for administering the Fund. This money would be used to supplement the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Virginia Weatherization Assistance Program.
It is very important that this bill become law – for several reasons: It would represent a responsible effort on the part of the State of Virginia to assume a share of the burden in providing important energy conservation services to low-income families – a burden that has been carried exclusively by the federal government; it would provide some assurance that if electricity costs rise as a result of de-regulation, low-income families who are at the greatest risk will have some form of protection from rising costs; and it represents compassion and concern for the working poor who have been hit with high unemployment, rising heating fuel costs, and threatened funding reductions at the federal level.
Please make every effort to contact your local state representatives and ask for their support of House Bill 2317. Contact information may be found at the Virginia General Assembly website http://legis.state.va.us/
HOUSE APPROVES $1.7 BILLION FOR LIHEAP
On January 10, 2003 the House Appropriations Committee approved $1.7 billion for LIHEAP for funding year 2003. This is the same amount approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. But the House did not provide any additional contingency funds – money that can be released by the President above and beyond the approved LIHEAP allocation – that can be used in emergency conditions such as a very harsh winter and/or a dramatic rise in heating fuel costs. The President still has $300 million in carryover contingency money from last year that can be spent during this fiscal year.
ENERGY STAR PROMOTED FOR USE IN HUD HOUSING
EPA, DOE, and HUD have signed a formal partnership to promote Energy Star throughout HUD’s affordable housing programs. Through this agreement, the three agencies will work together to promote the purchase of Energy Star labeled appliances by the nation’s housing authorities and in HUD’S inventory of privately-owned assisted housing. This partnership will also promote the building of new Energy Star labeled homes through existing HUD programs. Energy Star appliances and products are certified as those that are the most energy efficient on the market. They include all home appliances, electronics, office equipment, lighting, and heating and cooling equipment. Energy Star has helped save over $5 billion dollars on home energy bills and has eliminated the pollution equivalent to that of 10 million cars.
CONSERVATION DURING WARTIME USED TO BE A CIVIC DUTY
During World War II, it was every citizen’s duty to practice conservation. People were encouraged to conserve rubber, paper, aluminum, tin cans, sugar, coffee, and even kitchen fats (the glycerin was used for ammunition). Drivers were limited to three gallons of gas per week, leading to the formation of carpools and car clubs.
Certainly times have changed but as a nation that is still at “war” – the concept of conservation as a patriotic activity unfortunately has changed as well. We may not need to save kitchen fat but certainly the need to conserve oil by being more efficient as a society should be considered not only patriotic but a matter of national security as well.