This fall, MEEA hit the road to shake off the small talk cobwebs and dip our toes into small, safe networking gatherings again. In seven weeks, we visited six cities to host our members for happy hours, each offering outdoor space to distance and mingle with snacks and cocktails.
These six events brought the first time I’d been in an airport or on a plane—or at a work gathering in 19 months—and I was nervous, but pleasantly surprised at the number of masks and understanding head nods I got throughout my travels.
Each event brought between 15-35 members out from their homes and Zoom rectangles to catch up with MEEA staff and fellow members. We talked with members about things like how their companies are moving forward in this time,…
Over the past 15 years, utility-run energy efficiency programming has produced significant energy savings, customer cost savings and a host of system-wide and societal benefits throughout the Midwest. Unfortunately, these benefits are not fully understood or recognized by many state legislators and other policymakers. As a result, MEEA and other energy efficiency industry experts must recurringly defend EE policies from those who misunderstand how efficiency is funded, its value and impact for utility customers and its widespread benefits within individual states and throughout the region. Over the last few years, there have been a number of Midwestern states passing policies that reduce and impede energy efficiency programs which…
On September 15 the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) was signed into law. The bill contains many energy efficiency components that will impact and improve the lives of citizens and workers in Illinois, including a provision to create a state stretch energy code.
What is a Stretch Code?
A stretch code defines a higher level of energy efficiency or sustainability for new construction than the applicable energy code. Depending on local laws, stretch codes may be developed on their own (typically by/for municipalities) or as part of the larger state energy code (either as a separate state stretch code or in an optional appendix). Once a stretch code is adopted by a jurisdiction, it becomes the mandatory energy code…
