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City Efficiency Leadership Council Newsletter
The SPEER presented at the Travis County Commissioners Court on Energy Efficiency Day. The presentation focused on energy efficiency strategies that can help reduce energy demand. By implementing these strategies, Travis County can reduce its energy consumption and save money on electricity costs. SPEER emphasized the importance of investing in energy efficiency measures as a way to promote sustainability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create a more resilient energy system. Thank you, Travis County, for inviting us!
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In this newsletter:
- TX & OK Resilience Cohort
- Energy Efficiency Day
- EEIP Meeting Update
- CELC Member Events and Project Highlights
- Upcoming Energy Events
- SPEER's TECCC & Energy Code Ambassador Meeting
- Job Alert
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We are excited to announce our upcoming Resilience Cohort in partnership with ICLEI. As we face the possibility of increasingly hot and dry summers in the coming decades, accompanied by drought and more extreme weather we must take steps to assess the vulnerability and risk of our communities. This cohort will provide local governments and regional planning councils in Texas and Oklahoma with the opportunity to learn more about how to assess climate change vulnerability and risk in their communities during live, web-based training sessions and gain an understanding of resilience planning, climate & environmental equity, and more.
By participating in the cohort, you'll gain valuable knowledge and be better equipped to prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change. Best of all, participation in the cohort is entirely free, thanks to generous funding provided by SPEER. If you are interested in participating you can learn more in our upcoming information session on October 19th. Let's build a more resilient future for our communities together.
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Energy Efficiency Day was last week on October 4th. Its purpose is to shine light on the many advantages of adopting efficient measures and behaviors that enable you to save money, reduce pollution, and create jobs.
| SPEER wants to acknowledge CELC members Travis County and the City of San Antonio for issuing EEDay proclamations and recognizing the importance of energy efficiency in their communities for both residents and the environment! | |
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Last week's EEIP meeting opened up with a discussion from the utility reps on how they see the SB 1699 roll out with implementing residential demand response (DR) programs.
ACEEE presented and touched on their Winter Storm Uri report which states that Texas could to offset about 14,000 MW of summer peak load and 25,000 MW of winter peak load.
Last year's total IOU (Investor Owned Utilities) spending on energy efficiency programs was roughly $120-140 million collectively.
The TRC (which provides utility's deemed savings for efficiency programs and technologies) called out SPEER's efforts with our heat pump working group!
The PUC is working on an updated website to help individuals and consumers find out more about energy efficiency and demand response programs. Presentations from EEIP Meeting can by found here.
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CELC Member Event and Project Highlights | |
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Dallas College is hosting its annual Sustainability Summit. This is the 13th edition, and the keynote speaker is William Kamkwamba, author of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. There is a Netflix production of the same name. The event will be in-person and live-streamed.
Here is a link to the Dallas College webpage with details and a registration link:
https://www.dallascollege.edu/about/sustainability/events/summit/pages/default.aspx
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Austin Energy 2023 Single Family and Multifamily Rating Update
Austin Energy Green Building regularly updates its ratings to encourage excellence and innovation in design. Changes in green building technologies and techniques and revisions to codes and the City of Austin goals influence the rating updates.
Public engagement for the 2023 version of the Single Family and Multifamily Ratings opened on February 20 and ended on June 6. The new rating was published August 1 and became effective October 1. To check out the new ratings please visit Speak Up Austin for Single Family and Multifamily or go to the Online Rating System (ORS) 'Help' page.
* photo credit
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Save the date: October 11th is ENERGY STAR Day 2023! This will bring attention to ways we can increase access to energy efficiency and a clean energy future, improving our environment and savings for consumers.Plan to join the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on social media for ENERGY STAR Day’s social sharing event on October 11th to co-amplify the important messages of helping everyone save energy with ENERGY STAR. | We are thrilled that SPEER's Policy Manager, Noah, will be joining panelists Chris Reeder with Husch Blackwell and Samuel Davis with the Texas Land and Liberty Coalition for the Summer Lookback and 88th Texas Legislative Session Impacts working lunch session. Register now to mingle with energy stakeholders and discuss Texas’ Clean Energy Economy. | |
Learn how industrial sites can save on operating costs, reduce environmental emissions, and improve resilience with Combined Heat and Power (CHP). CHP can contribute to energy efficiency goals and work as an alternative energy source among many other benefits. This Texas Industrial Energy Efficiency Network (TIEEN) collaborative webinar focused on Legislative and Regulatory Developments in Texas Impacting Energy Production, Efficiency, and Use will take place Tuesday, October 17 at 2:00-3:30 pm (Central). Save your spot and register now! | |
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SPEER's Executive Director, Todd McAlister, will be joining the other Regional Energy Efficiency Organizations (REEOs) for the Regional Roundup Plenary Panel at ACEEE's 2023 National Conference on Energy Efficiency as a Resource in Philadelphia on October 16–18 to discuss energy efficiency, how policies can expand and evolve amid a transforming utility industry, upcoming opportunities, and big advances arising in the next couple of years. View the schedule to learn more and register here! Panelists include:

- Todd McAlister, South Central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource
- Erin Cosgrove, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships
- TBD, Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance
- Justin Brant, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project
- Becca Yates, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
- Joe Desmond, California Efficiency + Demand Management Council
- Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
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The Power of Partnership in Emissions Reduction Planning
with Local Governments
Join this webinar to discover key strategies for successful collaboration with and across local governments to plan, implement, and measure progress on efforts to reduce emissions and create more sustainable communities. Tuesday, October 31st, 2023 | 11:00 am - 12:00 pm ET
Speakers:
Lindsey Hawes, City of San Diego, CA;
Kevin Smith, Fairfax County Government;
Tom Abram, Introba
Register Now
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The US Department of Energy (DOE) is hosting a webinar on Thursday, November 16th, to highlight different partnership models to help school districts make energy improvements. It will provide examples of community-based partnerships and partnerships with energy service companies, universities, and utilities. Learn what has worked well for school districts and gain insights on how to get started in forming your own partnerships to address the energy challenges in schools.
Register today for the November 16th webinar to learn about the power of partnerships.
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2023 Clean School Bus Rebates Overview Open
EPA is accepting applications to the 2023 CSB Rebate Program! With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Clean School Bus (CSB) Program provides $5 billion over five years (FY 2022-2026) to replace existing school buses with zero-emission and low-emission models. Apply by January 31, 2024 at 4 pm ET.
More information
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TECCC + Energy Code Ambassador Meeting | |
On November 9th we will hold a one-day workshop for both our Energy Code Ambassadors and our Texas Energy Code Compliance Collaborative (TECCC) meeting.
SPEER's Code Ambassador initiative is a dynamic and dedicated group of passionate individuals that gather monthly to address concerns and challenges related to the adoption of updating energy codes in cities across Texas with the goal of promoting and improving energy-efficient practices in our built environment.
The Texas Energy Code Compliance Collaborative (TECCC) was launched by SPEER in 2011 in partnership with State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) with the purpose of facilitating compliance with the State’s building energy codes statewide and serving as a reliable and unbiased source for information on building energy codes and code compliance in Texas.
If you would like to join this workshop or become an energy code ambassador for Texas save your spot now!
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