Energy Efficiency Bill Heads to White House

The House of Representatives passed S. 535, an energy efficiency bill sponsored by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Jean Shaheen (D-NH). This follows Senate passage a few weeks ago. The bill now heads to the president's desk for his approval, which is highly likely.

The bill includes the following provisions:

1. Promote commercial building energy-use benchmarking and disclosure;
2. Establish a voluntary Tenant Star program to promote energy efficiency in rental property; and
3. Adjust efficiency standards for grid-connected water heaters, so that water heaters needed for demand response and thermal storage programs can continue to be sold.

“Hopefully this is a harbinger of future energy efficiency bills, wrote Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, in a blog posting. “For example, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on April 30 on a broader array of energy efficiency bills, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to hold a similar hearing soon.”

Photo: White House via Shutterstock