Bright Idea: Conserve Energy, Create Jobs

In Baltimore, Md., GHHI helped residents in the grant area achieve a 67 percent decrease in emergency department visits and hospitalizations and watched their average annual energy costs drop more than $400 per household. Photo by File Photo

You want to reduce your energy bills, improve your in-home air quality, increase the value of your home and help create jobs in the local community? Then invest in energy-efficiency improvements at your home or business. Getting the correct information is one way to unlock the large, undiscovered potential for energy savings in Jackson. Very soon you will go directly to your natural gas and electric utilities for that information.

Earlier this summer, the Mississippi Public Service Commission adopted new rules guiding the development and implementation of energy-efficiency programs. Now regulated natural gas and electric utilities and electric power associations must design and deliver energy-efficiency programs that will help residential, commercial, and industrial consumers reduce their energy usage and their energy bills, while still maintaining comfort, security and productivity.

The economic benefits of energy efficiency extend far beyond lowering energy bills for consumers. Efficiency also contributes to economic development and job creation. Designing efficiency programs to achieve these goals, in addition to saving energy, can have benefits that ripple throughout the economy. The natural gas and electric utilities are currently in the process of developing their energy-efficiency program portfolios. Jacksonians need to be ready to embrace these early programs (lighting improvements; appliance replacements; HVAC upgrades; insulation and window improvements; etc.) and lay the groundwork for long-term energy savings, economic development and a local workforce.

Read more at jfp.ms/energyrules and jfp.ms/aceee.

The Economic Opportunity Value Chain of Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency Measures (job, local and high quality)--->Energy Bill Savings (consumer cost savings)--->Productive Spending / Local Investments (jobs, local)

Source: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

IN PROGRESS:

Earlier this year, the Kellogg Foundation awarded The Green & Healthy Homes Initiative $400,000 for vital work here in Jackson. "Through this grant, GHHI will increase access to greener, healthier, and more affordable homes in Jackson and the region that yield reductions in energy costs and housing-related injuries and illnesses such as asthma and lead poisoning for families, children and seniors. GHHI will also build a pathway to community-based green and healthy housing rehabilitation jobs," GHHI said in a release (see jfp.ms/Kellogg_green).

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Bright Idea: Conserve Energy, Create Jobs