In June 2014, the USEPA proposed the first national standards to limit emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from existing power plants, the Clean Power Plan, addressing climate change while bolstering new economic opportunities by:
• spurring innovation and investment in low and no-carbon technologies;
• helping create new energy infrastructure / energy efficiency technologies and services;
• providing the market signals businesses, entrepreneurs and investors need to move forward in energy and environmental policies; and
• helping with the global effort to mitigate the effects of climate change and extreme weather events by reducing GHG emissions.
While large operations are the focus of many environmental rules and many large businesses can afford to take the lead in investing in GHG emission and energy usage reductions, small businesses still represent a significant part of the US economy. But, lacking the resources of a large firm, small businesses have taken the brunt of impacts of recent extreme storms. Small Business Majority (www.smallbusinessmajority.org) has polled small business owners to understand their attitudes on clean energy and environmental policies, indicating that a majority of small business owners are worried about extreme weather events and understand the risk to their bottom lines; an estimated 25% of small to mid-sized businesses do not re-open after a major disaster.
A recent white paper from this group highlights these concerns of small businesses and that policies like CPP may be beneficial, as follows:
• Meaningful incentives to reduce GHG emissions to lessen climate risk. This includes maximizing the opportunity to invest in clean energy projects to reduce emissions and energy costs. This will also raise project opportunities for small business in construction, manufacturing, strategizing, and energy efficiency.
• Smart policies to incentivize the upfront costs of improving energy efficiency for long-term energy cost savings. Small Business Majority recommends that states implement targeted energy efficiency education programs for small businesses, subsidize the purchase and installation of energy efficient technologies by small businesses, and partner with utilities and regulators to develop targeted energy assistance programs for vulnerable or at-risk small businesses.
• Smart policies to drive energy innovation opportunities. Small Business Majority supports federal and state policies that will help bolster investment in renewable energy resources and energy efficiency, such as state Renewable Portfolio Standards. Small Business Majority further recommends that states consider allocating more resources towards disaster recovery and risk mitigation plans for small businesses to reduce impacts and improve resiliency and recovery.
CCES is a small business itself, and understands the constraints of your resources. We have the experts to help a small or mid-size business strategize to be more energy efficient using maximum outside incentive money and/or low interest loans to save you significant long-term costs with no or minimum upfront payments and provide a good payback and return on investment. We can also advise you on real extreme storm risks and how to cost-effectively plan to lessen them. Contact us at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.