Brad Crabtree, the Democratic-NPL candidate for the North Dakota Public Service Commission, announced Tuesday energy efficiency policy initiatives he wants to pursue to reduce unnecessary and costly energy use.
North Dakota has the highest per capita energy consumption of the 50 states and no energy efficiency policy, Crabtree said.
"We end up paying more for energy," Crabtree said. "The Public Service Commission's failure to take meaningful action on energy efficiency is contrary to the long-term financial interests of North Dakota consumers."
Included in Crabtree's proposed initiatives:
- Setting a voluntary 1.5 percent energy efficiency savings goal for regulated utilities to be achieved by 2015.
- Providing financial rewards to utilities that commit to meeting the voluntary goal by offering North Dakotans money-saving efficiency programs, services and financial incentives.
- Implementing a statewide residential and commercial building energy code that meets or exceeds the most recent international standards.
- Creating an investment fund to provide state agencies, universities, schools and local governments with low-cost financing for energy efficiency improvements.
