Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Bob Stannard, a Manchester resident and a lobbyist for Citizens Action Network, a group that opposes the relicensure of Vermont Yankee. This commentary first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
DOVER – Nearly every business in the United States is looking for ways to reduce its impact on the environment, save money and improve efficiency, but few business have taken the steps the Mount Snow Resort has in the last decade, according to Efficiency Vermont.
Since 2000 the resort has completed 14 projects to increase its energy efficiency, a spokesman for Efficiency Vermont said.
Efficiency Vermont, the nation’s first ratepayer-funded energy efficiency utility, calculated that the installation of the resort’s 251 fan guns will save 28 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 27 million tons of carbon dioxide during the equipment’s lifetime, said Chuck Clerici, a key account manager for Efficiency Vermont.
“They’re very conscious about the mountain’s environmental impact,” Clerici said. “As opposed to trying to convince the customer that efficiency is important, we’ve spent our time locating the most efficient equipment for the resort.”
Isn’t this the direction in which we all should be heading? Saving 28 million kwhrs is most certainly a big deal and when those kinds of savings come from a major ski resort it makes the news; as well it should.
Businesses like Mt. Snow , Hand Motors, The Vermont Country Store and many, many others get it. They understand that not only is it good policy to become as efficient as absolutely possible with our energy consumption, but in the end it saves money and lessens the impact on our environment.
The shining star behind Vermont’s actions to increase efficiency while simultaneously reducing our insatiable thirst for more and more power is a ratepayer funded, nonprofit company known as Efficiency Vermont. By know you’ve probably heard or seen at least one example of their good work. EV was responsible for the campaign to replace incandescent bulbs with compact florescent bulbs. Ratepayer dollars were used to subsidize this program that resulted in a reduction in the need for more power. The program works and I’ll leave it up to you to visit their website to see how well it’s working and the positive impact it’s having on Vermont ’s energy consumption.
However, as apparently is the case with every good and successful idea there are those who just don’t like it. They don’t like the idea of a fee imposed on users of power. They think it’s a tax. It’s not; it’s a fee and yes we pay for it just like we pay for every other fee for services. Those who oppose EV don’t think that people or businesses should have to contribute any money so that we can all benefit from lessening the impact on the planet and saving power and money.
Yes, a lot of money has been spent to educate the public and to implement this program, but if that investment had not been made is there anyone out there who really believes that these great strides would have happened on their own?
Our utilities’ best idea, to date, had been selling us an insulated jacket for our electric hot water heaters at a discounted price. When we talk about harvesting the low-hanging fruit in the efficiency business that idea was actually on the ground. It was a good idea, but we can and should have been doing so much more.
Much of our energy is simply wasted. This is true of our other resources, as well. Just look around the next time you are at any commercial establishment and see if there is just one thing that could be done to save even a little energy. Now do the same thing in your own home. Do you turn off lights when you leave a room? Do you have the heat on and a window open? Have you done everything possible to make your home more energy efficient? Maybe necessary improvements can’t be done all at once, so pick the low hanging fruit. Make a list of every single thing that you think you can/should do and chip away at it.
The more you pay attention to your energy use the more conscientious you will become. Once you start paying attention then you may begin changing your behavior and when that day comes we may finally begin to address the root cause of our energy problem.
It won’t happen overnight and it won’t happen on its own. This is going to take a while and we will need the help of Efficiency Vt. if we are to be successful.
Our former governor and his former chief stimulus czar have issues with Efficiency Vt., primarily due to the fact that it’s ratepayer funded. Apparently, they would rather have the funding come from the general fund so that the nonprofit corporation under contract to Vermont to provide services would become a government program. Not a good idea.
We have an old saying for that here in Vermont ; “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. There is more work to be done. The low-hanging fruit is about gone. It’s time to get the ladder and reach up to the next level. It’s time to get busy.
