Energy efficiency saves money and helps our climate. So why are legislators trying to gut funding for it? Photo: ©choness/IStock
The legislature is at it again, trying to stop progress on energy efficiency in the Granite State. Many thanks to those who responded to our previous alert to tell your legislators not to gut funding for the important energy efficiency work that saves us all money on our electricity bills (not to mention benefits our climate).
This time, legislators are using the budget bill to try to stop funding for energy efficiency. Why use this shady, backdoor way to undermine state energy efficiency programs? Because the outpouring of support for energy efficiency by people like you already stopped the previous bill, HB 317, in its tracks! That attack on energy efficiency was successfully halted (for the moment) when the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee voted to “retain the bill in committee” rather than moving it forward for consideration by the full legislature this year.
But some legislators think we aren’t paying attention. They think they can sneak a few lines attacking energy efficiency programs into a huge budget bill and the public won’t notice.
Tell legislators these shady tactics won’t work. Take action to tell the Finance Committee and other legislators energy efficiency is a good investment for the Granite State.
Current language in the budget bill, HB 2, instructs the Public Utilities Commission not to “expend any funding on the implementation of an energy efficiency resource standard” without the express prior approval of the legislature. And you can guarantee the legislators backing this language don’t want energy efficiency to move forward at all.
So please tell legislators we’re watching them, and we expect them to stop creating new and nefarious ways to obstruct energy efficiency in the Granite State!
