Success Stories in Energy Efficiency

Credit: Age Concern

Legislation

In May 2010, we supported the Montgomery County Council vote for the Carbon Dioxide tax to require sources in the County that generate more than one million tons of CO₂ a year to pay a tax on every ton of carbon dioxide they produce.
We proposed to the county council and helped pass a property tax credit of as much as $250 for Montgomery County residents when they take steps to make their homes more energy efficient.
We lobbied for the successful passage of legislation that requires Montgomery County to create and implement a Climate Protection Plan that sets as a target reducing total greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Our members provided research and advice that shaped many of the recommendations in the Plan.
New homes in Montgomery County built after January 2010, will be 20-30 percent more energy efficient because of our efforts to require "ENERGY STAR" standards for new construction. When the local building industry association had this provision stripped out of the bill in committee, we informed county council members that other jurisdictions had passed similar bills. We also encouraged residents who had attended our energy efficiency house meetings to contact the county council. The result? The "ENERGY STAR" provision was put back in! In a May 3, 2008 editorial, the Washington Post editorial applauded this provision as "the crown jewel of the legislation."

In 2010, we worked with the County's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on new, innovative programs to help reduce the County's carbon footprint. We helped develop the "See It and Save" Protrammable Thermostatic Program which was supported by a grant from the Maryland Energy Administration. More than 300 programmable thermostats were installed in low- to moderate-income homes.
We worked with Montgomery County's Dept. of Environmental Protection and the Maryland Home Performance with Energy Star program to increase the amount of practical home energy efficiency information available to county residents.
We held monthly home energy efficiency house meetings and sponsored demonstration home energy audits that have helped more than 300 people learn the top ten actions residents can take to reduce their energy use and save money. Residents left with ideas to reduce their energy use and their carbon footprint by 20 to 40 percent!