Crafting laws in New Hampshire brings forward many voices – sometimes those voices seem dissonant from the stated mission of their organizations. But, if it walks like a duck . . .
A case in point is the New England Ratepayers Association’s opposition to Senate Bill 492.
The full Senate and the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee have heard and passed this bill. It will positively impact virtually everyone in the state. It changes the allocation of funds going to energy efficiency while lowering costs for commercial and industrial electric customers. It will provide significant additional funding to better insulate the homes of more than 10,000 low-income families currently on waiting lists, eliminating for many the need to choose between food and fuel in the winter. It adds funding for school districts and expands funds for municipalities helping to offset pressures on local property taxes. It will do this under existing programs that have proven performance and low overhead.
Energy efficiency programs like those found in SB 492 do not receive the respect they deserve.
Solar may be the dessert of our energy future, but energy efficiency measures are the vegetables. Conserving energy is our least costly and cleanest way to “buy” energy. A conserved energy dollar never leaves the state, but rather it is invested in local business creating new jobs. How much impact? From SB 492 alone, $1.6 billion through the end of the decade.
On the electric side, we have strong evidence of the effectiveness of energy efficiency. Our slow recovery from the Great Recession began in 2008, the same time a regional program began to foster increased efficiency.
In these eight years of recovery, you would have expected electric consumption to have increased as the economy grew. This has been our experience after every previous recession. Not this time. The New England states have actually reduced our total consumption helping to move the region into a more competitive position.
One measure of a bill is the breadth of its support.
SB 492 has bipartisan sponsors in the Senate and House. It is supported by organizations including the Business and Industry Association, N.H. Municipal Association, Department of Environmental Services, community action agencies, environmental groups and the state’s consumer advocate. Passing this bill should be a no-brainer.
Here is where the “ducks” that would shoot down this bill enter.
Take this example of one organization failing the “if it sounds like” test.
Marc Brown is the president, and apparently only employee, of the NERA. If you listen to what he says or writes, it is unlikely you will think he is representing the typical ratepayer, but rather the interests of big oil, big gas and big utilities.
If he was representing the little guy, why has he repeatedly refused to disclose the membership of his organization or the source of its funding?
We do know from IRS filings that his organization is taking in over $200,000 annually. We know from newspaper reports that NERA first appeared opposing the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts.
Brown has repeatedly testified in opposition to projects that conserve energy, aid the development of renewables, or negatively impact the status quo of the fossil fuel or utility industries. His own LinkedIn profile provides a clue to his loyalties when he notes his past service with FreedomWorks, which is a spinoff from the Koch brothers-founded Citizens for a Sound Economy.
So what is the problem? In a word deception.
Should a newspaper publish an article, column or letter without contextualizing this organization? Should the organization be written into law as a commission member representing consumer interests as has been attempted? And especially relevant now, should a lawmaker be able to vote in favor of a special interest by citing this organization’s position as cover?
This is an important bill that still needs the approval of the full House. Tell your representatives to dump the ducks, listen to those standing in the sunshine and support this bill.
(Rep. Bill Baber, a Dover Democrat, is the ranking member of the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee.)