On Wednesday, February 8, 2012, Pam Barrow, NWFPA Energy Director, presented testimony in support of HB 2517and  HB 2518 before the Washington State House Committee on Local Government.  These bills seek to exempt cold storage warehouses and industrial processing equipment and systems from regulation for energy efficiency by the Washington State Building Codes Council.   The Council had included very specific criteria for evaporators, condensers and electric motors and their operation in Section 1460 of the Washington State Energy Code, which was recently repealed because the rules were not originally supported by sufficient analysis.

Read more in the NWFPA Energy Legislation Section...

On January 13, 2012, the Oregon Department of Energy issued the first announcement requesting filings for the program that is replacing the Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC).  This is an Energy Conservation Project Opportunity Announcement for Small Premium Projects.  The Announcement and other documents and filing form can be found on the ODOE website at http://www.oregon.gov/ENERGY/BUSINESS/Incentives/SPP-OA.shtml.

Read more: Applications Open for New Energy Tax Credit Conservation Projects in Oregon

NWFPA has submitted comments to Bonneville Power Administration regarding energy efficiency budget issues. To assure continuity in funding for existing projects with its current funding plan and to find alternative funding to cover FY2011.

The NWFPA Energy Roadmap guides efforts to achieve NWFPA’s goal to reduce industry-wide energy intensity by 25% in 10 years and 50% in 20 years.

The Roadmap has two parts:  a Members Roadmap to guide efforts at the plant level, and an Association  Roadmap to guide members' and staff activities at the association level.  The Members Roadmap has been completed and can be downloaded from the Energy Roadmap page.