April's Sustainable Living Tip
April 15 is tax day and April 22 is Earth Day. Take advantage of government programs like Energy Star and Efficiency Maine, putting your tax dollars to work to help save the planet.
Facts about Planet-Saving Government Programs
- Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that is intended to help us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.
- The Energy Star label was established to reduce pollution caused by wasted energy, and to make it easy for consumers to buy more efficient products without sacrificing performance, features, and comfort.
- A product with an Energy Star label should meet strict specifications established by the EPA: the product category must contribute significant energy savings nationwide, products must meet consumer expectations for performance, a higher purchase price must be offset by lower operating costs, energy consumption and product performance must be measurable and verified with testing, and an Energy Star label must effectively differentiate more efficient products from less efficient ones.
- In addition to helping you find Energy Star products like light bulbs and kitchen appliances, the Energy Star web site includes sections on Home Improvement, New Homes and Buildings & Plants.
- If you purchase an energy-efficient product or renewable energy system for your home, you may be eligible for a 30% federal tax credit.
- Some, but not all, Energy Star qualified products qualify for a federal tax credit. Energy Star distinguishes energy efficient products which, although they may cost more to purchase than inefficient models, will pay you back in lower energy bills within a reasonable amount of time, without a tax credit.
- The State of Maine will implement a mail-in rebate program that will help residents replace older, inefficient water heaters and home heating and cooling equipment with new, efficient Energy Star qualified models. The program is tentatively scheduled to begin in May 2010, and will run until funds are depleted. Federal funding for this program is $1,263,000.
- On March 5, 2010, the Government Accountability Office issued a report titled, "Covert Testing Shows the Energy Star Program Certification Process Is Vulnerable to Fraud and Abuse."
- In light of these findings, EPA is taking the following steps, effective immediately:
products may no longer be labeled by manufacturers until a lab report is submitted to and approved by EPA, EPA’s automated review process has been suspended, and new Energy Star partners will no longer be granted access to the Energy Star mark upon joining the program. Going forward, the Energy Star mark will be made available to partners only after a qualifying product is submitted and approved. - Efficiency Maine is a statewide effort to promote the more efficient use of electricity, help Maine residents and businesses reduce energy costs, and improve Maine's environment.
- The Efficiency Maine Home Energy Savings Program offers incentives up to $3,000 to homeowners at all income levels for pre-approved energy-efficiency upgrades done by participating contractors. The program is funded by a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“Stimulus” dollars). Both our March and April sustainable living workshops here at the store have been on the topic of how to qualify for this program.
- Thanks to an award of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, Efficiency Maine will offer a Residential Heating / Cooling Appliance Replacement Program to start April 15, 2010. The Program will offer incentives for the replacement of existing Central Air Conditioners, Gas and Oil Boilers, Gas and Oil Furnaces, Air Source Heat Pumps, Electric Heat Pump Water Heaters, and Gas Tankless Water Heaters. Because funding for the Program is limited, a reservation system, based on signed contracts for installation by a licensed heating technical will be required. Additional information will be available the week of April 11, 2010, from Efficiency Maine.
- Replace an old air conditioner, dehumidifier, clothes washer, refrigerator or freezer with selected Energy Star appliances and you could receive rebates of up to $75 through the Efficiency Maine Appliance Rebate Program. Obtain a mail-in rebate form from a retailer at purchase time to submit with a copy of your receipt.
- Efficiency Maine's Residential Lighting Program enlists the participation of and works closely with manufacturers and lighting retailers to encourage them to produce and sell energy efficient lighting products to the residents of Maine. Our store, for example, is currently offering a $1 per CFL bulb instant rebate.
- Our store also participates in the Efficiency Maine CFL Recycling Program. You can bring burned out CFLs to our store for proper recycling at no cost to you.
- Maine has a net metering law that entitles customers to a billing credit for generating electricity for the grid using fuel cells, tidal power, solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass, generators fueled by municipal solid waste in conjunction with recycling, and high-efficiency combined heat and power (CHP) systems. If you are connected to a public electricity grid and your system produces more energy in a billing period than you use, you receive credit at the retail rate for the excess. (In effect, your meter "runs backwards".)
- Maine is one of a handful of states, including California, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, that have authorized neighborhood net metering. This allows groups of customers to take advantage of net metering from a single renewable energy facility owned jointly (e.g., residents of a neighborhood served by a community-owned wind turbine).
- Neighborhood net metering allows customers who would not otherwise be able to take advantage of net metering to do so, such as homeowners whose roofs are too shaded to permit installation of solar panels. Neighborhood net metering can also permit aggregation of load to facilitate larger systems which exhibit economies of scale.
- Net metering requires a subsidy from other customers because the participating customers are paid a retail rate for the power they sell to the electric company. This power displaces power that the electric company could buy at a wholesale rate. The subsidy tends to be regressive, since the customers who install renewable energy systems and benefit from net metering are usually better off than the average electric company customer.
