Dear Mr. President:
We applaud the Administration for the success of the Better Buildings Initiative, particularly the focus on the federal government meeting aggressive energy reduction targets. The 2011 Presidential Memorandum directing agencies to use $2 billion of private-sector financing and expertise to make efficiency upgrades over a two-year period has led to a substantial increase in federal projects carried out by private-sector entities using energy savings performance contracts and utility energy service contracts. This commitment will result in both taxpayer savings as agencies spend less on their utility bills as well as contributing to a significant reduction in energy utilization.
We applaud the Administration for the success of the Better Buildings Initiative, particularly the focus on the federal government meeting aggressive energy reduction targets. The 2011 Presidential Memorandum directing agencies to use $2 billion of private-sector financing and expertise to make efficiency upgrades over a two-year period has led to a
substantial increase in federal projects carried out by private-sector entities using energy savings performance contracts and utility energy service contracts. This commitment will result in both taxpayer savings as agencies spend less on their utility bills as well as contributing to a significant reduction in energy utilization.
As the original two year time frame of the federal building initiative draws to a conclusion, we ask that you affirmatively act to extend and strengthen the goal for energy savings by the federal government. There is still significant opportunity for achieving more savings, and the success of the past two years’ effort has created important momentum that should not be wasted. Audits completed by federal agencies have identified more than $9 billion in addressable energy conservation measures with reasonable payback periods. If institutionalized, the success of the current two year initiative could result in a sustained reduction in federal energy costs plus significant modernization of federal infrastructure with minimal use of taxpayer dollars.
In order to fully capture this opportunity, we respectfully request a new Presidential initiative setting a goal of $1 billion a year for the next five years in federal agency energy savings using performance-based contracting. In addition to setting an aggressive new goal, we hope the Administration also establishes new policies that capture best practices identified from the current two year initiative that can be uniformly adopted by federal agencies to create a consistent, timely and executable process for meeting the goal. Finally, we recommend that the Administration encourage comprehensive projects that will enhance energy security.
Again, thank you for taking bold action to make energy efficiency a cornerstone of your governing legacy.
Sincerely,
Ameresco
American Gas Association
Business Rountable
Constellation
Edison Electric Institute
Energy Systems Group
Federal Performance Contracting Coalition
Honeywell
Ingersoll Rand
Johnson Controls
Lockheed Martin
NAESCO
NAM
NEMA
NORESCO
Schneider Electric
Siemens
Trane
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
United Technologies