Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Energy
 
Board
Department of Energy
 
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8/23/22  12:14 pm
Commenter: Marc

Energy efficiency and benefits to taxpayers
 

Suggest continuing and strengthening the emphasis in the current (2018) energy plan in promoting energy efficiency.  This is particularly true for state and local government agencies who can "lead by example" and fund energy efficiency improvements that offer both environmental benefits AND will save taxpayer dollars in the long run. Wind and solar are extremely important, but often the most significant improvements are less flashy improvements like heat pumps, replacement windows, etc. Many agencies also have large rooftops that could be relatively easily become platforms for rooftop solar.

 

Another "lead by example" recommendation is to reevaluate agency vehicle fleet sizes in light of the remote work revolution.  My agency has offices all around the state. In prepandemic times (including when the 2018 Energy Plan was written) it was very common to use an agency vehicle to drive from Richmond to another office (Charlottesville, Fairfax, Lynchburg, etc.), however nowadays it is much more efficient to use videoconferencing for such meetings.  So agencies need to reevaluate their fleet sizes in light of this societal change.

 

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