MEMORANDUM
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to: |
Mayor and Town Council |
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from: |
Sherif Ghobrial, Sustainability Committee Chair |
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subject: |
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date: |
May 4, 2009 |
At its regular meeting on April 14, 2009, the Sustainability Committee received a petition from the NC SAVE$ ENERGY Alliance requesting support for House Bill 1050 (“NC SAVE$ ENERGY”), legislation sponsored by Rep. Dan Blue, Rep. Joe Tolson, Rep. Rick Glazier and Rep. Pricey Harrison. The NC SAVE$ ENERGY proposal aims to establish a statewide independent (non-utility) energy efficiency program that creates green jobs and serves low to moderate income residents. According to the bill, greater investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy generation can offset the need for new power plants, and NC SAVE$ ENERGY would be designed to help manage, plan, implement and administer programs to reduce the use of electricity and natural gas or propane in North Carolina.
Like other similarly designed organizations around the country, NC SAVE$ ENERGY would be initially funded through a utility bill surcharge (sometimes referred to as a “benefits charge”) that would be distributed among nearly all electric and gas residential users throughout the state. This surcharge would be applied on a consumption basis (e.g., per kilowatt of electricity or per therm of natural gas consumed), totaling an estimated average of $1.70 per household per month. According to the bill, the surcharge would generate initial funding on the order of approximately $60 million per year, with the notion that other funding sources could include state and federal grants, stimulus funds, the issuance of bonds, private contributions or the sale of carbon credits. Under the proposed legislation, residential customers who are eligible for state and federal subsidy programs, or who earn less than 150% of the North Carolina poverty line, would be exempt from the utility surcharge.
On April 14, 2009, the Sustainability Committee voted unanimously in favor of the NC SAVE$ ENERGY bill, and to support the Alliance in its efforts to request additional support from the Chapel Hill Town Council. We have learned that a representative from the NC SAVE$ ENERGY Alliance will attend the May 4, 2009 Council business meeting to request the Council’s support for House Bill 1050. As a result, we submit this petition for the May 4, 2009 business meeting in an effort to support the work of the Alliance and to request that the Council consider supporting the NC SAVE$ ENERGY bill.
By Consensus: Yonni Chapman, Barbara
Driscoll, Sherif Ghobrial (Chair), Julia
Gohlke, Josh Gurlitz, Thomas Henkel, Vasu Kilaru, Paulo Nery, Hank Rodenburg