Look Big Brother: "No Hands!"

On average, I pay $25 per year in direct charges to Efficiency Vermont. Courtesy of their work I just received $3.50 of that hard-earned money back via a rebate on efficient light bulbs. Amassing an 86% loss would be unacceptable in any other industry, but that hard work is being rewarded by the Vermont Legislature. Efficiency Vermont is trying to do the work of rational consumers and their progress thus far has been mediocre, at best. Our current solution is to throw more money at the problem (this “solution” is becoming a habit in Montpelier). We need to start asking how such poor results are being overshadowed by 3 or 4 heartwarming success stories that happen to make headlines.

   

  Let’s put Efficiecy Vermont in perspective. They are taking after-tax dollars from every Vermonter paying a utility bill and even more from businesses. They then redistribute these dollars in the form of advice, which for the majority of people contributing to their budget consists of: “buy some energy efficient bulbs, clean your furnace filter, and don’t complain about the sneaky way we’re funded.” Every once in a while someone with a golden ticket lands the chocolate factory tour and is rewarded with a comprehensive energy audit and solutions to increase efficiency. While I’m certainly an advocate of efficiency, I’m a little chagrined to know that I’m paying for someone else’s energy audit. If a business or individual suspects that their 40 year-old blast freezer needs updating it should be their responsibility to make the necessary changes. We are officially sponsoring energy efficiency welfare in Vermont, the obvious effect of which will be to distort the effect rational consumers have on the market place.

Having recently finished construction of my house in Southern Vermont I am becoming increasingly appalled with the belief that Efficiency Vermont needs further subsidy. The misconception perpetuated by Efficiency Vermont is that homeowners just aren’t smart enough to figure it out on our own. During construction, I made multiple efforts to increase the energy efficiency of my home, and it wasn’t because Energy Efficiency Vermont coerced me into these decisions. I was able to make the connection between soaring energy prices and efficient Energy Star products saving money over the long term. Appliances even have these fancy labels that help you determine how efficient the product is. Even more impressive is the prevalence of competition between manufacturers to make the most efficient products. Any consumer whodoesn’t have enough information to form a rational decision with the current amount of information available simply isn’t paying attention. I did all of this analysis, which consisted of reading 5 labels, and sketching numbers on a pad for 5 minutes without attending a seminar, or getting an energy audit from Efficiency Vermont. New Englanders are known to be thrifty, yet we’re paying for a state organization to show us how to do elementary level math. Remind me again why we need to increase their budget?

Comments

[Hunter Melville]

Maybe we can convince the legislature to make this a voluntary check off box on taxpayer's state income tax forms. Except it would be a $20-$40 check-off.

[Horace Palmer, III]

Efficiency Vt provided me with timely, accurate and beneficial information about motors, compressors, VFDs, compressors, evaporators, air conditioning,and lighting options to minimize energy utilization when I opened my food service business. I spoke with other local businesses that had similar equipment and at peak demand my energy bills, with more equipment, were 50% or less than theirs. Kudos to Efficiency Vermont, they are doing us all a hugh service in helping us minimize our energy utilization foot and control costs. I'm a hugh supporter.

[Mister Guy]

Want more money back...buy more bulbs. Anyone that's against helping regular people save energy through conservation either needs to have their head examied or they are just a shill for the energy industry, period. Energy efficiency works, but someone needs to tell your buddy Dick Cheney about that I guess.

[Michael Gardner]

Mister Guy misses the point. Energy efficiency is a wonderful tool to lower costs on an individual level for the consumer. However I seriously doubt that Mister Guy or anyone else in his camp would ask someone in line at the hardware store to pay half the cost of their insulation when they checkout. This is exactly what Efficiency Vermont is doing on a much less personal level. I should not be subsidizing your inefficient lifestyle when I have chosen on my own level to be as efficient as possible.

[Jon Harrison]

I agree with Mr. Gardner. I may think that the federal government has a role to play in setting CAFE standards, for example, because energy dependency is a national security issue. But why the heck do we need a publicly funded program to help individual homeowners in Vermont change their energy-inefficient ways? Eventually the fuel bills will force the homeowner to get off his duff and put in that insulation. I don't see why I should help subsidize a job that he should pay for on his own.

[Mister Guy]

When people use energy more efficiently, we all win. We really can do more good together than we can on our own. Wake up...