LD 1931
pg. 4
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LR 2695
Item 1

 
 
SUMMARY

 
This bill does the following:

 
1. It requires the Commissioner of Education to ensure that
facility managers for school administrative districts complete
the building operators certification program established and
conducted under the authority of the Public Utilities Commission.
Certification goals of 50% of facility managers by January 1,
2010 and 100% of facility managers by January 1, 2015 are
established. The commission is required to annually report to
the joint standing committee of the Legislature having
jurisdiction over utilities and energy matters on the progress
towards the goals and the energy savings that have been realized
in school administrative districts as a result of the facility
managers' completing the program;

 
2. It amends current law that prohibits a municipality from
adopting a building energy code other than the model building
energy code developed by the Public Utilities Commission pursuant
to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 121. Under
this bill, a municipality could opt out of adoption of the model
building energy code by notifying the commission of the
municipality's decision by January 1, 2008. If a municipality
fails to opt out, then it must adopt the model building energy
code;

 
3. It expands the funding for the conservation programs
established by the Public Utilities Commission, known as
"Efficiency Maine," by increasing the assessment on transmission
and distribution utilities over a 3-year period to a maximum of
.3 cent per kilowatt-hour beginning January 1, 2009;

 
4. It requires the Public Utilities Commission to develop a
new compensation method for transmission and distribution
utilities that is not tied to the amount of electricity consumed.
The commission is required to submit its method to the joint
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over
utilities and energy matters by January 15, 2007;

 
5. It requires the Public Utilities Commission to seek a
waiver from the federal Department of Energy for energy standards
for residential furnaces and boilers. The commission is required
to develop new standards for furnaces and boilers based on
standards developed in other New England states; and

 
6. It requires the Governor's Office of Energy Independence
and Security in the Executive Department, State Planning Office


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