Energy Efficiency

New Jersey is lagging in its efforts to promote clean energy and energy efficiency programs because of repeated raids on funding for the projects, according to environmentalists and industry advocates. Those concerns were underscored again Tuesday when the state Board of Public Utilities disclosed that it learned late last week that the Christie administration was planning to divert an additional $10 million in clean-energy funds to plug a gap in next year's state budget. That brings to more than $160 million the amount that may be appropriated from the program in the next fiscal year alone.

By Denis O'Brien and Jan Jarrett National climate-change legislation passed by the House in June will come before the Senate this fall. The final bill, if wisely crafted, will save families money, significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and create millions of well-paying American jobs, including a significant number of green jobs right here in Pennsylvania. Climate change poses a profound threat to our national security, the environment, and the global economy.

Late last month, a time of year when most people are focused on their own energy budgets and keeping warm, President Clinton will announce his federal energy budget for fiscal year 1995. This is a perfect opportunity for the president to dramatically shift federal energy research dollars from polluting sources of energy such as nuclear power, coal and oil, toward energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy sources. For most Americans, keeping warm in winter and using energy for all other purposes means depending on fossil fuels and nuclear power.

Many energy conservationists believe that a surge in demand for energy- efficient mortgages would speed the adoption of national or regional home- energy rating systems. Although lenders can use the information to judge whether a house qualifies for an energy-efficient mortgage, these systems are envisioned as shopping tools that give home buyers and renters a way to compare the relative energy efficiency of a home on the basis of a numerical or pass-fail designation. Fundamentally, a rating system "takes energy efficiency, which is invisible," and gives it form, Rebecca Vories, head of Infinite Energy, a Denver energy consulting firm, said during a recent conference here on housing affordability and energy efficiency.

CHRISTINE Caripides' struggle with energy bills as detailed in her Jan. 27 letter is not an uncommon plight. Fortunately, for Christine and other Pennsylvanians who don't meet low-income criteria, there are still many funding opportunities available to help offset the cost of making energy efficiency improvements. Act 129 represents the largest opportunity for homeowners. It requires electric utilities in the state to meet energy-reduction goals by offering energy-efficiency and conservation programs to customers.

To help 46 small businesses invest in energy-efficiency or pollution-prevention projects, Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $293,889 in grants. Six businesses are in the Philadelphia region: Reeder House L.L.C., New Hope; Taylors Music Store & Studios Inc., West Chester; Strata Company, Plymouth; Aztec Products Inc., Montgomeryville; Strategic Domain Ventures, Harleysville, and Decatur L.P. in Philadelphia. To qualify for Pennsylvania's Small Business Advantage Grant Program, businesses must have fewer than 100 employees.

A $441,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to the Pennsylvania Treasury will be used to help expand the state's energy-efficient investments. One-half of the grant will be used to recapitalize the Keystone Home Energy Loan Program (HELP), which provides low-interest loans to homeowners for energy-conservation improvements, Treasurer Rob McCord said. The other half of the Rockefeller grant will support the creation of financing packages for Pennsylvania colleges and universities to improve their energy efficiency.

The federal government has rejected a new rule that would have required high-efficiency furnaces in northern states, a victory for critics who warned the costly standard could backfire and drive urban homeowners to less efficient heating methods. The U.S. Department of Energy and the American Public Gas Association (APGA) on Monday asked the U.S. Appeals Court in the District of Columbia to vacate the rule and to restart the process of devising new furnace efficiency standards. The settlement between the energy department and the APGA scuttles a rule that would have required any new furnaces or boilers installed after May 2013 in 30 northern states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to have an efficiency rating of 90 percent or more.

Mayor Nutter on Thursday takes off for China, hoping to raise Philadelphia's international profile, drum up business opportunities, and renew discussions about direct flights between the city and that country. Representatives of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Drexel University, the airport, the law firm of White and Williams, and other area organizations will travel with Nutter. "I think the serious opportunities for international trade and exchange and business opportunity are there," Nutter said Friday.

Pennsylvania lawmakers passed Act 129 in 2008, a measure aimed at curtailing energy demand, creating jobs, and reducing pollution. The Public Utility Commission is now considering whether certain programs required under the act are working and should continue.   The answer to that question is a resounding yes. In fact, Act 129 has been even more successful at conserving energy and reducing electricity usage than many anticipated. The goal in Phase I was to reduce electricity use statewide by 1 percent by 2011 and 3 percent by 2013.