Indiana House Votes To End An Innovative Energy Efficiency Program
Climate Progress, February 27, 2014The Indiana House of Representatives voted 69-26 to end a state program that requires all electricity customers to pay a monthly fee to promote energy-efficiency efforts.
The original Senate bill was designed to allow industries that use 1 megawatt or more of electricity per month to opt out of the Energizing Indiana program, which they claimed was proving a financial burden and not offering useful benefits.
The Energizing Indiana Program launched two years ago by former governor Mitch Daniels costs the average household about $2/month and the money is used to conduct energy audits, weatherization programs and rebates on energy-saving appliances. The program’s website says it’s saved enough energy in the past two years to power nearly 78,000 homes in Indiana.