FACT SHEET: White House Announces Executive Actions and Commitments from Across the Country to Advance Solar Deployment and Energy Efficiency

Commitments and Executive Actions Illustrate Federal, State, and Local Leadership to
Create Jobs and Cut Carbon Pollution

The Obama Administration is committed to taking action to combat climate change. As part of that effort, today, the White House is announcing a series of public and private sector commitments and executive actions to advance solar deployment and promote energy efficiency.

The executive announcements today altogether will cut carbon pollution by nearly 300 million metric tons through 2030 – equivalent to taking more than 60 million cars off the road for one year – and will save homes and businesses more than $10 billion on their energy bills. Those executive actions are:

• Partnering with up to three military bases to create a veterans solar job training pilot;
• Investing $68 million in 540 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in rural areas across the country, including 240 solar projects;
• Proposing an energy conservation standard for commercial unit air conditioners that has the potential to save more energy than any previously issued standard;
• Supporting funding for clean energy and energy efficiency for affordable housing;
• Strengthening commercial and residential buildings codes; and
• Harmonizing the power of national service and volunteerism to tackle climate change and its effects.

Additionally, 50 companies, states, communities, and multifamily housing leaders from across the country are announcing commitments to deploy onsite solar energy and improve energy efficiency. The commitments represent more than 35 megawatts of solar deployed – enough energy to power thousands of homes – as well as energy efficiency investments that will lower energy bills for more than 400 million square feet of buildings.

Earlier this year, the White House hosted a Solar Summit celebrating cross-sector leadership on solar and calling for commitments to support solar deployment and jobs through the expanded use of solar in our homes, businesses, and schools. Today’s announcements illustrate the progress our towns and businesses have made since the White House made this call for commitments. When combined with the announcements President Obama made in May, they represent more than 350 private and public sector commitments to deploy 885 megawatts of solar and improve the energy efficiency of more than 1.4 billion square feet of buildings.

Since the President took office, America has increased its electricity generation from solar more than ten-fold.  In 2013 alone, the price of commercial and residential solar declined by more than 12 percent. This is driving more and more Americans to install solar panels at their homes and businesses, and is supporting tens of thousands of solar jobs across the country. In fact, in the first half of 2014, more than half a million homeowners and commercial customers installed solar. We are also making progress cutting energy waste. Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has already put in place appliance efficiency standards that will save American consumers more than $450 billion on their utility bills through 2030.

Today, the White House is announcing a series of executive actions that will create jobs, reduce carbon pollution, and improve energy efficiency. These actions reinforce American leadership in innovating and deploying clean energy and cutting energy waste.

• Building a Skilled Solar Workforce:  To continue to build a skilled solar workforce, DOE’s Solar Instructor Training Network is launching a veterans’ job training pilot project at up to three military bases this fall. The pilot project will connect a talented Veteran population with DOE’s extensive network of more than 400 community college-based solar training institutions. The network will assist at least 50,000 highly-qualified new solar installers to enter the industry by 2020. 

• USDA Awards Loans and Grants for Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency Improvements: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack is announcing USDA is investing $68 million in 540 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects nationwide, including 240 solar projects. The funding is being provided through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) which offers financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses to purchase and install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements.

• Improving Appliance Efficiency: DOE is issuing a proposed energy efficiency conservation standard for commercial unitary air conditioners, which are commonly used for space conditioning in commercial and industrial buildings. If finalized as proposed, this standard will save 11.7 quads of energy over the lifetime of units shipped over 30 years. That is equivalent to more than half of all the residential energy used in one year, making this potentially the largest energy savings estimated for any efficiency standard issued by DOE to date.  If finalized, it would also help cut carbon pollution by more than 60 million metric tons, and could save consumers nearly $10 billion on their energy bills through 2030. This year, DOE has issued seven final energy conservation standards, and when combined with the final rules already issued under this Administration, they will get us more than two-thirds of the way to achieving the President's goal of reducing carbon pollution by at least 3 billion metric tons cumulatively by 2030.

• Strengthening Building Codes: In May 2014, DOE preliminarily affirmed that industry’s latest commercial building code – the ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 - 2013 – provides more energy savings than the previous Standard. Today, DOE is issuing the final determination for this action. Additionally, DOE is issuing a preliminary determination that the latest residential building code – the 2015 IECC – provides at least the same energy savings as the 2012 version. The updated ANSI/ASHRAE/IES code will help states and the Federal government save money and energy on building operations and cut emissions by 230 million metric tons of CO2 through 2030. Improved codes for residential and commercial buildings have already saved U.S. homes and businesses $44 billion on their energy bills, and today’s action builds off of this progress.

• Federal Programs Supporting Clean Energy and Efficiency in Affordable Housing: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Community Planning and Development (CDP) office is affirming that under current guidelines, Section 108 funding can be used for clean energy and energy efficiency projects. To support local communities in utilizing this and other funding, HUD is creating a renewable energy toolkit for use by Community Planning and Development grantees.  The toolkit will provide program compliance information, tools, and capacity to integrate renewable energy components such as solar photovoltaic, solar hot water, and cogeneration in an efficient, cost-effective, and impactful way by using CPD funds, such as the Community Development Block Grant Section 108 program.  The toolkit will be finalized and available for use in early 2015.

• Prioritizing Energy Efficiency in Service Projects to Reduce Poverty: This month, the Corporation for National and Community Service will release their AmeriCorps VISTA Program Guidance, which directs the development of new VISTA projects and outlines the national programming priorities for the VISTA program for the fiscal year. For the first time, energy efficiency and climate resilience will be two of the factors used when selecting anti-poverty service projects in low-income communities.

• Improving Access to Federal Resources: DOE is launching Solar Powering America, available at solar.energy.gov, a one stop shop that will provide access to a wide range of Federal resources to drive solar deployment. The website will also be used to highlight and track private sector commitments to install distributed solar.

• Leveraging Financing Tools to Deploy Solar: The growth of solar has been fueled in part by access to innovative financing tools. Today, DOE is releasing an updated Guide to Federal Financing for Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Deployment. This guide will highlight financing programs located in various Federal agencies, such as the Treasury, HUD, and USDA, which can be used for energy efficiency and clean energy projects. 

• Highlighting Progress on Solar in Schools: A SunShot Initiative partner, The Solar Foundation, is releasing a report exploring how U.S. schools are choosing solar to lower their energy costs and lower their carbon footprint. The report found that thousands of schools already are cutting their energy bills by choosing solar – using savings to pay for teachers and textbooks – and estimates that more than 70,000 additional schools could do the same. In fact, in 2014, the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools program honored more than 40 schools and districts across the nation for drastically reducing their energy use through conservation behaviors and the use of on-site renewables, including solar.

• Releasing New Reports Showing the Declining Price of Solar: DOE and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are releasing three new studies showing that the cost of solar energy continues to fall across all sectors, which indicates that initiatives targeting soft costs are starting to work. In 2013 alone, the installed price of commercial and residential solar declined by more than 12 percent.

• Convening Key Players to Drive Investments in Solar: The White House will host a roundtable discussion in October on how to facilitate increased capital flows into the solar market through measures such as the collection of performance data and the standardization of contracts and risk assessment tools. The meeting will bring together senior advisors from the White House and DOE, solar developers, investors, ratings agencies, and other relevant experts.

• Cutting Solar Soft Costs with Innovation:  DOE's SunShot Catalyst business plan competition is now open and accepting applications through November 7, 2014. This prize challenge makes it faster and easier for American innovators to launch cutting-edge solar companies, while tackling time-sensitive market challenges like soft costs. Learn more and submit your video pitch at catalyst.energy.gov.

• Driving Federal Procurement of Solar:  In April, the Administration launched a Capital Solar Challenge, directing Federal agencies, military installations, and Federally-subsidized complexes to identify opportunities to deploy solar energy at Federal locations across the National Capital Region. As part of the Capital Solar Challenge’s private sector outreach, the General Services Administration (GSA) will host an Industry Day on November 13, in Washington D.C. to perform market research and answer developers and investors questions about GSA’s procurement approach. The GSA Contracting Officer and Leadership will be present to discuss the Agency’s strategy for deploying solar in the National Capital Region and for using solar to help meet Federal renewable energy goals with industry.

• Increasing Energy Productivity: Just yesterday, Secretary Moniz announced that DOE, the Council on Competitiveness, and the Alliance to Save Energy are teaming up to launch Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030, an initiative supporting the President’s goal to double U.S. energy productivity by 2030. Private sector, state, and local leaders can join energy productivity dialogues, endorse the goal, and share best practices for capturing the economic benefits of improved energy productivity. Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 will create a national roadmap to grow our economy while reducing our energy costs. Learn more at http://www.energy2030.org/.

New Commitments to Advance Solar Deployment: Earlier this year, the White House hosted a Solar Summit celebrating cross-sector leadership on solar and calling for commitments to support solar deployment and jobs through the expanded use of solar in our homes, businesses, and schools. Leaders from across the country answered the call and in May, President Obama announced more than 300 private and public sector commitments to create jobs and cut carbon pollution by advancing solar deployment and energy efficiency. The commitments represent more than 850 megawatts of solar deployed – enough to power nearly 130,000 homes.

We are making great progress. In the financial sector alone, Connecticut's Green Bank, the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority has already approved financing for 16.8 MW of solar, out of the 75 MW goal they announced in May. And Goldman Sachs has catalyzed nearly $190 million in financing and investments in the U.S. distributed solar sector out of their May target of $10 billion. Citi has closed six major new renewables transactions, including an innovative, $160 million transaction that will fund 40 systems averaging 1.1 megawatts per project.

Today, the following commercial sector leaders, low income housing authorities, and communities are rising to the President’s call to action once again and committing to increase onsite solar generation.

• Cisco Systems commits to increase its onsite solar capacity to 2.7 MW worldwide by 2015. This commitment will help Cisco meet their corporate goal to use electricity generated from renewable sources for at least 25% of their global electricity demand every year through FY2017.
• BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) commits to add a 630 kilowatt (kW) solar installation at its Cayey, Puerto Rico manufacturing facility and is evaluating proposals for an additional 5 MW of ground-based solar installations in Puerto Rico, Connecticut and New Jersey in addition to an existing 1 MW installation in North Carolina.
• 3M, Cisco Systems, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, and other industry leaders are committing to provide a significant discount on solar to their employees that will result in the addition of 1,000 systems, or 5 MW, of solar across their aggregate employee base in North America by 2016. Working with the World Wildlife Fund, the companies leveraged their bulk purchasing power to competitively select Geostellar, which has received two DOE SunShot Initiative grants to reduce costs and streamline the process for homeowners who install solar.
• Public Housing Authorities in Massachusetts have signed agreements totaling over 13 megawatts of solar virtual net metering credits, with plans to sign 27 MW more in the very short term. HUD and the housing authorities will work through public private partnerships to scale cost-effective solar resources to public housing in the coming years.
  • Fall River – 5,922 kW
  • New Bedford—2,687 kW
  • Winchendon – 1,039 kW
  • Leominster – 915 kW
  • Barnstable – 850 kW
  • Somerset– 750 kW
  • Plymouth – 750 kW
  • Fairhaven – 650 kW
• The District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) commits to identifying solar opportunities at 20 different sites in its portfolio for a cumulative installed capacity of 962 kW. DCHA estimates these new commitments will achieve an annual reduction of 707,000 kilowatt hours.
• The City of Beaverton, Oregon commits to constructing a 433 kW solar panel power system on top of an underground, city-owned, 15 million-gallon water reservoir.  The solar power produced will be used by the city’s water pumping station, the city’s largest facility in terms of electricity use.
• Montgomery County, Maryland commits to installing 6 MW of solar photovoltaic systems on more than 17 public facilities such as libraries, recreation centers, administrative buildings, and parking structures before the end of 2016. The County is also partnering with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative, to develop a renewable energy plan to further accelerate this initiative.
• The City of Charlottesville, Virginia commits to install more than 250 kW of solar by the end of 2015, helping to achieve their goal of using onsite solar generation for 8 percent or 480 kW of the electricity generated by the end of June 2019.
• Jackson Family Wines, California is committing to installing 6.5MW of solar at locations throughout California, including the Kendall-Jackson, La Crema, Cambria, Stonestreet, Carmel Road, Murphy-Goode and Hartford wineries by 2016. That’s equivalent to taking nearly 1,250 California homes off the grid and will provide over 60% of the company’s electricity usage from emissions-free renewable power.

New Commitments to Advance Energy Efficiency Investments: In February 2011, President Obama launched the Better Buildings Challenge to help American commercial, industrial and multifamily buildings become at least 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020.  More than 200 diverse organizations, representing over 3 billion square feet, 600 manufacturing plants and more than $2 billion in energy efficiency financing have stepped up to the President’s Challenge. Partners are on track to meet the 2020 goal and on average, are cutting energy use by 2.5 percent each year. Since the Better Buildings Challenge began, its partners have saved 36 trillion BTUs and $300 million. Today, responding to the President’s call to action on energy efficiency, leaders from across the country are making additional commitments that will advance energy efficiency investments.

• 28 new states, cities, multifamily housing, retailers, commercial real estate, and manufacturing organizations are announcing that they are joining as Partners in the President’s Better Buildings Challenge, committing to improving the energy efficiency of more than 400 million square feet of additional floor space, an area the size of more than 7,000 football fields, by at least 20 percent in the next decade.
  • State of New York
  • Chula Vista, CA
  • Orlando, FL
  • Alco Royal Partners, TN
  • Beacon Communities, MA
  • The Boston Land Company, MA
  • Century Housing, CA
  • Cheyenne Housing Authority, WY
  • Cion Housing, NM
  • Darigold, WA
  • District of Columbia Housing Authority
  • East Hartford Housing Authority, CT
  • Haverty’s, GA
  • Housing Authority of McDonough County, GA
  • FirstService Residential, NY
  • Fort Wayne Housing Authority, IN
  • Houston Housing Authority, TX
  • Island Grove Village Apartments, CO
  • JBG Commercial, MD
  • Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, MA
  • Korman Residential Properties, PA
  • The Model Group, OH
  • Nevada Rural Housing Authority, NV
  • New Life Homes, NM
  • Peabody Properties, MA
  • Presby’s Inspired Life, PA
  • Schochet Companies, MA
  • The Silver Group, CA
• 5 new state, local, and regional organizations are joining the Better Buildings High Performance Outdoor Lighting Accelerator, setting DOE on track to meet their goal to replace more than 500,000 outdoor lighting poles by 2016. The new partners include:
  • Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources
  • Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office
  • Southern California Regional Energy Office
  • Portland, Maine
  • Flint, Michigan