Ameresco responds to EPA's finalized Clean Power Plan

Energy efficiency and renewable energy company Ameresco Inc. responded to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) finalized Clean Power Plan on Tuesday, urging states to use the services in efforts to drive compliance.

“Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective, self-funded strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while saving energy and creating jobs,” Ameresco President and CEO George Sakellaris said. “We encourage states to adopt strategies that promote public-private partnerships for energy efficiency and renewable energy to reduce emissions under the plan.”

The regulation, which is the nation’s first to limit carbon pollution, calls for a 32 percent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. One of the more noticeable changes from the 2014 proposal draft version of the rule is that it allows states greater flexibility to determine how they will reach their individualized reduction mandates.

“There is tremendous potential for energy savings performance contracting and distributed generation to support the Clean Power Plan, and we will continue to advocate for states to maximize those opportunities,” Sakellaris said. “As a trusted sustainability partner, Ameresco strives to provide integrated energy solutions that also support environmental stewardship.”