{"id":6815,"date":"2014-04-15T09:23:14","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T14:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=6815"},"modified":"2014-04-15T09:29:01","modified_gmt":"2014-04-15T14:29:01","slug":"indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Indiana<\/a>
Indiana State Capitol, Source: David Schwen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the end of March, the Indiana legislature passed a bill repealing the state\u2019s energy efficiency standard, becoming the first state in the nation to roll back its energy savings goals. Governor Mike Pence could have signed the bill into law or he could have vetoed it. He did neither; instead, the bill became law because he took no action within the prescribed time period. His statement<\/a> as to why he allowed the bill<\/a> to become law left us scratching our heads.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI could not sign this bill because it does away with a worthwhile energy efficiency program developed by the prior administration. I could not veto this bill because doing so would increase the cost of utilities for Hoosier ratepayers and make Indiana less competitive by denying relief to large electricity consumers, including our state\u2019s manufacturing base.\u201d<\/p>\n

Governor Pence admits that energy efficiency saves money on ratepayers\u2019 electricity bills. He\u2019s right, according to a March 2014 study<\/a> by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which reviewed 1,700 energy efficiency programs in 31 states over a three-year period and revealed that the average cost for procuring the energy efficiency savings was 2.1\u00a2 per kilowatt-hour \u2013 five times less expensive<\/i> than the 10.13\u00a2 per kilowatt-hour<\/a> customers pay for electricity.<\/p>\n

Governor Pence\u2019s disregard for energy efficiency is part of a larger trend in the Midwest to roll back clean energy standards. Ohio<\/a> is the latest battleground, where S.B. 310, which would freeze Ohio\u2019s energy efficiency and renewable energy standards at 2014 levels, is currently being considered<\/a> by Ohio legislators. These bills and other similar bills around the country are backed by the Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council, front groups and model bill factories for many corporate interests including oil, gas, and coal.<\/p>\n

So why, exactly, did Governor Pence allow this bill repealing the energy efficiency standard to become law? Maybe he was listening to large industrial companies, who often oppose energy efficiency standards because they have engineers on staff who can design their own energy efficiency programs. As a result, these large companies don\u2019t need to rely on energy efficiency programs managed by the electric utilities. But repealing the law hurts residential customers and small businesses which do not have the luxury of employing their own engineers to develop personally-tailored energy efficiency programs. If small businesses are the biggest job creators<\/a> in our economy, does it make sense to take away the energy efficiency programs which allow them to save money on their electricity bills?<\/p>\n

One thing we know for certain is that energy efficiency makes good sense. But Governor Pence\u2019s failure to veto the bill \u2013 not so much.\u00a0 As Dante said when describing the nine circles of hell in The Inferno<\/i>,”[t]he hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the end of March, the Indiana legislature passed a bill repealing the state\u2019s energy efficiency standard, becoming the first state in the nation to roll back its energy savings goals. Governor Mike Pence could have signed the bill into law or he could have vetoed it. He did neither; instead, the bill became law …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42996,254,27600],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-6815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-smart-power","category-energy-efficiency","category-utilities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIndiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At the end of March, the Indiana legislature passed a bill repealing the state\u2019s energy efficiency standard, becoming the first state in the nation to roll back its energy savings goals. Governor Mike Pence could have signed the bill into law or he could have vetoed it. He did neither; instead, the bill became law ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-15T14:23:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-04-15T14:29:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Finnigan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Finnigan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John Finnigan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4e06d0ac3c4cbe9f823ba21e6ab8b23\"},\"headline\":\"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-15T14:23:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-15T14:29:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/\"},\"wordCount\":505,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Clean Energy\",\"Energy Efficiency\",\"Utility Business Models\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/\",\"name\":\"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation - Energy Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-15T14:23:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-15T14:29:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4e06d0ac3c4cbe9f823ba21e6ab8b23\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Exchange\",\"description\":\"Accelerating the clean energy revolution\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4e06d0ac3c4cbe9f823ba21e6ab8b23\",\"name\":\"John Finnigan\",\"description\":\"Senior Regulatory Attorney John Finnigan is the senior regulatory attorney for EDF\u2019s US Climate and Energy Program, representing EDF before state public utility commissions on smart grid deployments and energy efficiency matters.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.edf.org\/people\/john-finnigan\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/author\/jfinnigan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation - Energy Exchange","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation - Energy Exchange","og_description":"At the end of March, the Indiana legislature passed a bill repealing the state\u2019s energy efficiency standard, becoming the first state in the nation to roll back its energy savings goals. Governor Mike Pence could have signed the bill into law or he could have vetoed it. He did neither; instead, the bill became law ...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/","og_site_name":"Energy Exchange","article_published_time":"2014-04-15T14:23:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-04-15T14:29:01+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"John Finnigan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Finnigan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/"},"author":{"name":"John Finnigan","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4e06d0ac3c4cbe9f823ba21e6ab8b23"},"headline":"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation","datePublished":"2014-04-15T14:23:14+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-15T14:29:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/"},"wordCount":505,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg","articleSection":["Clean Energy","Energy Efficiency","Utility Business Models"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/","name":"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation - Energy Exchange","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg","datePublished":"2014-04-15T14:23:14+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-15T14:29:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4e06d0ac3c4cbe9f823ba21e6ab8b23"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2014\/04\/StateCapitolIndiana-1024x719.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/15\/indiana-governors-inaction-results-in-first-rollback-of-energy-efficiency-standards-in-the-nation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Indiana Governor\u2019s Inaction Results in First Rollback of Energy Efficiency Standards in the Nation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/","name":"Energy Exchange","description":"Accelerating the clean energy revolution","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4e06d0ac3c4cbe9f823ba21e6ab8b23","name":"John Finnigan","description":"Senior Regulatory Attorney John Finnigan is the senior regulatory attorney for EDF\u2019s US Climate and Energy Program, representing EDF before state public utility commissions on smart grid deployments and energy efficiency matters.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.edf.org\/people\/john-finnigan"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/author\/jfinnigan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12461"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6815"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}