March 17, 2014- By Kari Lydersen in Midwest Energy News
A bill before Indiana Governor Mike Pence could end a state efficiency program that has led to significant energy savings in the past two years.
Clean energy and environmental groups, along with some major companies, are pleading with Pence to veto the bill, saying it would mean higher energy bills and jobs lost as demand drops for products from light bulbs to efficient appliances.
Advocates say the state’s efficiency program, Energizing Indiana, is a “win-win-win situation” for companies, consumers and the environment. The program was created by a December 2009 order from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and was implemented in 2012.
The bill passed by lawmakers this year actually started as a much narrower provision that would have allowed large industrial users to opt out of the energy efficiency program. Large manufacturers like steel mills have paid millions of dollars to support the efficiency program, while typical households are paying an extra $2 or $3 a month.
The program includes free energy audits, weatherization for low-income households, subsidies for residential lighting products, heating and cooling retrofits at schools, education about energy efficiency, and rebates for commercial and industrial retrofits. Six utilities are covered by the program, which resulted in a savings of more than 416 million kWh in 2012.
The original bill was introduced in January by state Sen. Jim Merritt (R-Indianapolis) and passed in early February. Then in the House, Rep. Heath VanNatter (R-Kokomo) introduced a floor amendment that greatly altered the bill so that it would terminate the entire efficiency program in December. The amended bill says the utility regulatory commission cannot “extend, renew, or require the establishment of an energy efficiency program” under the 2009 order. It says utilities can continue to recover costs related to their compliance with the order.
The amended bill passed the House on Feb. 26 and then the Senate on March 10, with a vote of 37-8. At the time this story was published it had not yet reached Pence’s desk. Once the governor has the bill, he has seven calendar days to sign or veto it. (See when SB 340 lands on the Pence’s desk here.) If the governor takes no action, the bill becomes law.
That “would be devastating, it would kill efficiency in our state as we know it,” said Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizens Action Council.