ENERGY EFFICIENCY – The best ways Texas citizens from Houston to Austin can save money on their energy bills is to increase energy efficiency and conservation.

Texans have spent the last few months suffering under the weight of high gasoline prices. Electric rates, too, are on the rise. And as the winter season peaks, many of us are facing an even bigger potential economic wallop: rising
home heating prices.

Today’s energy crisis isn’t just the result of a freak hurricane season. Rather, it’s the result of decades of bad federal energy policy that have left us over-reliant on fossil fuels and other dangerous and unstable sources of energy.

Now is the time for Gov. Rick Perry to launch an all-hands-on deck emergency effort to promote energy efficiency and conservation in order to reduce demand for energy this winter.

His executive order on Oct. 27 directing state agencies to develop conservation plans is a good first start. This will save the state money and serve as a good example of the kinds of things all of us can do to reduce energy use.

Unfortunately, his order to ‘streamline’ the permitting of new coal-fired power plants is a major step in the wrong direction and will just mean less public involvement and more air pollution.

Instead, the governor should focus on improving the energy efficiency of thousands of homes and businesses. The state should acquire, and distribute for free, inexpensive yet effective technologies for reducing home energy consumption, including compact fluorescent light bulbs, low-flow showerheads, pipe wraps and water heater blankets.This investment will help us avoid the need to spend money building new power plants, saving all of us money and helping clear the air.

We should also adopt a one-day sales tax holiday for weatherization supplies and Energy Star-rated appliances. And the Public Utility Commission should deny any proposed rate increases unless investments in energy efficiency programs are dramatically increased.

Once this winter is over and the immediate crisis has eased, we need to make sure to keep up the effort. Improved energy-efficiency standards for appliances and homes, coupled with a sustained financial investment in energy efficiency, can keep a lid on energy demand and save consumers money.

These steps won’t bring natural gas or oil prices back down to where they were a year ago, or a month ago. But they will ease the pain of this winter and many winters to come.