News Release

August 4, 2006

"Call to Action" for Energy Efficiency
KCC Endorses National Energy Efficiency Plan & Hosts State Conference

A National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (Action Plan) was announced July 31 at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) summer meeting in San Francisco, California. The Action Plan presents policy recommendations for creating a sustainable, aggressive national commitment to energy efficiency through gas and electric utilities, utility regulators, and partner organizations.

The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) is one of the many organizations who publicly endorsed the goals and objectives of the Action Plan. The Action Plan provides five recommendations as ways to overcome many of the perceived barriers that have limited greater investment in programs to deliver energy efficiency to customers of electric and natural gas utilities. The recommendations are:

• Recognize energy efficiency as a high-priority energy resource;
• Make a strong, long-term commitment to implement cost-effective energy efficiency as a resource;
• Broadly communicate the benefits of and opportunities for energy efficiency;
• Promote sufficient, timely and stable program funding to deliver energy efficiency where cost-effective; and
• Modify policies to align utility incentives with the delivery of cost-effective energy efficiency and modify ratemaking practices to promote energy efficiency investments.

The Action Plan is a "call to action" to bring diverse stakeholders together at the national, regional, state and utility level to foster discussion, decision-making and commitments necessary to take investment in energy efficiency to a new level," stated KCC Chair Brian Moline.

"Developing a Kansas Energy Efficiency Plan will be a major undertaking for the KCC and the utilities we regulate," said Chair Moline. To begin the process, the KCC has scheduled an Energy Efficiency Conference to be held Wednesday, August 9, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at the Kansas History Museum, 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka, Kansas. The conference objective is to bring together all the stakeholders and decision-makers to evaluate the national standards and determine the direction and manner Kansas can effectively move toward energy efficiency.

Historically, utility regulation has rewarded utilities for building new infrastructure to meet the ever increasing demand for energy and neglected energy efficiency. The Action Plan, through state implementation, demands new policies making energy efficiency a key component of the nation’s energy mix that balances energy efficiency with new generation and supply options.