What’s this about?

In 2007, Austin Mayor Will Wynn released the Climate Protection Plan to make Austin the greenest city in the country. Part of that plan involves establishing mandatory energy efficiency standards for existing single-family homes. This created the City of Austin’s Energy Efficiency and Retrofit Task Force, which will release recommendations for energy efficiency standards in September 2008.

Having viewed drafts of the proposed program, we can tell you it is not the “voluntary” program it appears to be. It includes aggressive participation requirements that, if not met within two years, trigger a mandatory program. Not only are the participation goals outlined very unrealistic, we believe this is simply a deferred mandate and is the wrong way to achieve energy efficiency in Austin.

Austinites support improving energy efficiency, but we need a community-based approach to achieve it – not a top-down mandate disguised as a “voluntary” program destined to fail. With an already high cost of living, we can’t let expensive hidden mandates drive homeowners from the market.