1 Sun Solar team up with USGBC at Carson City

 

USGBC Nevada members and partners joined USGBC staff in the capital city last week to advance our 2017 legislative agenda, support green building initiatives and build relationships with state government officials. We connected with 18 offices across the legislative and executive branches.

Green building tax abatement actions

As a follow-up to our meeting with the Governor’s Office of Energy, we encourage USGBC members to consider how the Green Building Tax Abatement Program could be improved within the context of the current law: how to streamline reporting, how to ensure green building outcomes are being achieved, any possible equivalencies that should be considered, etc. The April meeting in Las Vegas drew a group of active participants.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2 at the Governor’s Office of Energy in Carson City from 1–4 p.m. To attend or call into this meeting, please email Robin Isaacs or call 775.687.1850.

Progress on energy efficiency bills

The outlook is favorable for all five of our priority bills:

• SB 150 and SB 407 passed the Senate and were introduced into the Assembly.
• AB 5 passed the House and was introduced into the Senate.
• AB 206 and AB 270 were granted a waiver for this week’s crossover deadline and should be considered within the next two weeks for full Assembly approval.

All the bills could still use your help, and you can show your support easily online. The Nevada legislature has made it easy for you to demonstrate your support (or opposition) for a bill. Select the bill you want to support (example: SB150), click that your comment is “for,” and if you’d like, add comments such as, “I support Nevada utilities committing to reasonable yet meaningful standards for efficiency that will conserve resources and save money.” This takes less than a minute—and, as we heard clearly this week, legislators really value having this feedback.

Energy choice committee formation

As announced in February by Gov. Sandoval, a new committee chaired by Lt. Gov. Hutchinson will be seeking to explore energy choice. This is a follow-up to last year’s Ballot Question 3, the Energy Choice Initiative. The committee will develop recommendations on how to properly prepare for this new future of energy choice in the state.