Suzanne Potter
California News Service
LOS ANGELES – According to a recent study, commercial buildings in California could save $1.3 billion on electric bills by the year 2030 if they implement efficiency measures recommended in President Obama’s Clean Power Plan.
The report from Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy said power bills in the Golden State could come down almost eight percent compared to costs if nothing is done. The findings were released one year after the president finalized the Clean Power Plan – which the U.S. Supreme Court has placed on hold pending litigation.
Study author Dr. Marilyn Brown said that commercial buildings could save $11.3 billion nationally.
“By the year 2030, we estimate that bills for electricity could be reduced by 6.7 percent if states were to include energy efficiency as a strong component of their compliance approach,” Brown said.
And according to the study, California buildings could save $150 million – almost five percent – by 2030, by switching to more efficient technologies like air-source heat pumps.
Hilary Firestone with the City of Los Angeles said the city is working on a series of proposals to measure energy use in the commercial and residential sectors.
“Our plan is looking at all large, existing buildings in the city, both commercial and multifamily, to make sure they’re monitoring their energy use by regular annual benchmarking,” Firestone said, “and then performing energy audits and retro-commissioning to make sure that their systems are performing optimally.”
The proposals go before the Los Angeles City Council in September. The report from Georgia Tech can be found at <http://cepl.gatech.edu/projects/ppce/cpp%26b>.
