Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, The Climate Registry and the National Association of State Energy Officials Tuesday released the National Energy Efficiency Registry Principles and Operating Rules.

The NEER Principles and Operating Rules are the critical foundation for the first-ever national web-based platform to collect standardized and transparent data on the savings associated with energy efficiency projects across the U.S.

They also outline a credible, broadly supported reporting and verification standard that could underpin a voluntary energy efficiency trading market.

In tandem with the Principles and Operating Rules, the group has published a NEER Roadmap that identifies potential opportunities for the NEER to support state and regional energy objectives.

In 2015, the NEER project partners were awarded competitive funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the concept for the national Energy Efficiency Registry.  Since then, the Project Team has consulted with other states, local governments, academic institutions, the energy efficiency community and the public to ensure the NEER can support a wide range of energy efficiency policies and programs.

“The National Energy Efficiency Registry Project shows the advances states can make when they work together.  The NEER has the potential not only to help states achieve their energy efficiency goals, but also to support the Administration’s goals for affordable, reliable and resilient energy for the American people,” said Kathleen Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, U.S. Department of Energy.

“Over 2.2 million Americans are now working in energy efficiency jobs, and building-related energy efficiency investments generated $68.8 billion in revenues last year.  Energy efficiency will play a key role in reducing Pennsylvania’s greenhouse gas emissions and increasing our competitiveness and we welcome tools that help us capitalize on the opportunity,” said Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.

“Energy efficiency can play a key role in improving air quality by reducing the need for power generation and lowering associated emissions. The National Energy Efficiency Registry addresses one of the key challenges in attributing these air quality benefits to energy efficiency: the ability to quantify the impacts of specific policies or programs in a standardized, transparent way,” said Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau.

“The Pacific Northwest has a long tradition of recognizing the value of energy efficiency, which is an important carbon-free resource that also reduces costs. Oregon is pleased to work with our colleagues in other states on initiatives like the National Energy Efficiency Registry so we can reap the full range of benefits associated with energy efficiency,” said Janine Benner, Acting Director of the Oregon Department of Energy.

The NEER is intended to serve as a central repository that will allow the public and private sectors to: (1) transparently track energy efficiency and conservation savings, and (2) support the documentation of program compliance and voluntary tracking of sustainability and energy goals.

“The National Energy Efficiency Registry will allow public and private sectors to unleash the tremendous market potential of energy efficiency across our nation. Energy efficiency already accounts for nearly two-thirds of the more than 3 million U.S. jobs supported by the broad advanced energy industry. NEER will help private and mainstream investors gain the confidence to engage in energy efficiency more than ever before, driving further investments in this growth market and the millions of U.S. jobs that it supports,” said Graham Richard, Chief Executive Officer of national business group Advanced Energy Economy (AEE).

“The National Energy Efficiency Registry will support a range of energy efficiency projects and program types, ranging from ratepayer-funded programs to ESCO projects. NEER will help us overcome the barriers to deploying energy efficiency measures by providing better measurement, tracking and recognition of energy efficiency and conservation savings,” said Matt Elliott, Executive Director of the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance (KEEA).

“The National Energy Efficiency Registry has broken new ground by building broad stakeholder support for a national repository for energy efficiency projects. The Climate Registry is delighted to support the NEER as it will help the public and private sectors collect consistent, comparable and transparent data on the impacts of energy efficiency,” said Ann McCabe, TCR’s Interim Executive Director.

“Energy efficiency is a prominent resource in U.S. energy markets, not only in utility customer-financed programs but also through non-utility and voluntary investments and initiatives. The National Energy Efficiency Registry offers an important framework for State Energy Offices and their partners to identify and verify energy efficiency adoption and benefits across these various marketplaces in support of their states’ energy and environmental goals,” said David Terry, NASEO Executive Director.

Additional resources to support the development of the NEER were provided by E4TheFuture and APX.

Click Here for a copy of the NEER Principles and Operating Rules.  Click Here for a copy of the Roadmap for NEER.

For more information on the project, visit the National Energy Efficiency Registry webpage.

[Posted: Oct. 31, 2017]

11/6/2017