|
For big impact, think energy efficiency Alaska policy makers attracted to ‘sexy’ megaprojects shouldn’t overlook the jobs, huge savings from using less, researchers say Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
If Alaska policy makers really want to make a big difference for the state’s economy, they would do well to give greater consideration to energy efficiency.
That’s the view of researchers who made a presentation at the recent International Association for Energy Economics conference in Anchorage.
Alaska leaders often focus on megaprojects such as a trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline and all economic benefits that could result, said Sue Libenson, a consultant and one of the conference presenters. It’s natural, she said, for people to focus on such “sexy” policy options.
But Alaskans should realize the enormous potential of improved energy efficiency to create both short-term and permanent jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars a year in savings, Libenson said.
To make their point, the researchers flashed photos of sexy singer Beyonce and billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Like those two famous persons, big projects and energy efficiency each have great appeal in their own way, Libenson said.
Legislature sparked research The presentation grew out of a study Libenson and others did recently for the Alaska Legislature, specifically the Senate Energy Working Group.
The study, submitted to legislators in January, included Steve Colt and other economists with the University of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research, plus Mark A. Foster & Associates.
The team was asked to delve into 28 questions, most pertaining to energy supply and consumption across the state. Some examples:
What can be done to reduce gasoline and heating fuel prices in Alaska?
Would construction of new bulk fuel storage likely attract new wholesalers or reduce consumer costs?
Does government ever independently own and operate refineries?
The study’s findings with regard to all these questions are interesting.
But some of the most intriguing results concern the state’s efforts so far to improve energy efficiency in housing, and the huge remaining potential in upgrading residential, public and commercial buildings.
Energy efficiency as capital project The researchers found that about 10 percent of Alaska’s housing stock already has participated in energy efficiency retrofits through state initiatives including the Home Energy Rebate Program and the Weatherization Assistance Program.
The researchers found that these retrofits created more than 2,700 short-term jobs plus 300 permanent jobs resulting from money saved on household energy bills flowing into the economy.
Retrofitting 70 percent of the state’s houses could create more than 30,000 short-term jobs and 2,600 permanent jobs, the study found.
Beyond this, enormous savings and job potential remain to be realized through energy efficiency improvements for public and commercial buildings in Alaska, the researchers found.
Such work obviously would require huge new investment. To retrofit all of Alaska’s housing stock, for example, would cost roughly $3 billion, Libenson and her colleagues said at the IAEE conference.
This shouldn’t be unthinkable, Libenson said in an interview with Petroleum News. Certainly, policy makers contemplate such enormous state investment when thinking about megaprojects such as natural gas pipelines or giant hydroelectric dams.
Policy makers naturally focus on large projects that create construction jobs and new energy supply, the study done for the Legislature said.
“It’s important to look at energy efficiency programs in the same way: they are major, statewide capital investment projects that create immediate and ongoing jobs while producing saved energy and lower fuel bills. They also offer a relatively quick return on the state’s investment.”
| 