Most energy efficiency programs are required by regulators to be evaluated to ensure ratepayer money is being spent wisely and reported savings are being achieved. If only such oversight were to happen for the millions/billions/gazillions being shelled out to state and local governments in the name of energy efficiency.
State and local governments have Amazon-wide budget gaps to fill, and I can assure you that earmarks (dirty word) for energy efficiency will find their way to plug budget holes to keep buildings open, replace roofs, buy new lawn mowers and pickup trucks, and avoid staff reductions.
We in Wisconsin have already experienced this during the last recession. Starting in about 2000, most money collected by utilities for programs was turned over to Madison to be distributed from the ivory tower. The recession of 2001 resulted in a major budget gap (major at that time – it probably looks like a hairline fracture compared to what we have now). There, coming in from investor owned utilities, was a nice cash stream of $80 million per year. The state government swiped half of it. It pretty much eviscerated the energy efficiency programs and brought the industry to a slow crawl. Incentives were pathetic.
Thankfully, the Public Service Commission has taken control of cash flow now to help ensure ratepayer money is used to save energy, reduce demand, and delay/avoid construction of power plants and transmission systems as intended, rather than filling in a tiny portion of a humongous budget hole. Now energy efficiency incentives in the state are what I consider to be very attractive.
These federal funds should either be funneled through established credible program delivery channels such as utility programs or, in some cases, state governments (as long as it is out of reach of the legislative and executive branches), or there should be third party impact evaluation of projects emanating from block grants to local governments and other private sector grant writers.
If there is no oversight, vendors, consultants, engineers, architects, whoever can declare whatever savings they want. Or worse, as noted above, the funds will go toward new park benches and decorative street lights.
We welcome the oversight and technical review of our work because we are going to do things right regardless of whether others review our work. In a competitive market, the more technically astute and persnickety the reviewers are, the better for us. While LEED® takes its lumps for being too cumbersome, time consuming, and nit-picky, I think it would be a big mistake to slack off the review process. It will weaken a strong brand.
The bottom line is, if you have no rigorous third party review, you can expect pennies on the dollar of proclaimed savings.
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