Dive Brief:
- Indiana may be in a worse position to meet new Environmental Protection Agency state emissions targets because of a plan to scrap the state's energy efficiency initiative, Energizing Indiana, at the end of the year.
- Citizens Action Coalition, a watchdog group, said the state would have been more on track to meet new EPA rules to cut carbon emissions in the state by 20% by 2030 with the soon-to-be defunded energy efficiency program.
- Energizing Indiana has saved the equivalent of a year's worth of power for 93,000 homes since it began in 2012. The program's ultimate aim was to save 2% of total annual electricity sales by the end of the decade, but in March legislators voted to kill the plan by the end of the year.
Dive Insight:
The Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission (IURC) is currently considering alternative energy efficiency plans to Energizing Indiana, which was killed after utilities argued it did not prove overly beneficial for customers or the industry. Consumer watchdog Citizens Action Coalition said Indiana has "shot ourselves in the foot" by ending the program, as it could have been used to help the state meet the EPA's new CO2 emissions standards.
The state's utilities, such as Duke Energy, are proposing new alternative energy efficiency programs. Duke Energy said it would offer the same programs to customers as it had prior to Energizing Indiana. "Instead of mandated targets what we're doing is simply saying to our customers, 'We've got this portfolio of energy-efficiency programs we can offer and we encourage you to take advantage of those — you can save energy and save money,'" said Duke Energy spokesman Lew Middleton.
