The Energy Policy Council must prepare and periodically review an Energy Efficiency Program, and the Governor must act on it after approval.
(a)The Energy Policy Council shall prepare a recommended Energy Efficiency Program for transmittal to the Governor, the initial plan to be completed by January 30, 1976. (b)The Energy Efficiency Program shall be designed to assure the public health and safety of the people of North Carolina and to consider the conservation of energy through reducing wasteful, inefficient or uneconomical uses of energy resources. (c)The Energy Efficiency Program may include but not be limited to the following recommendations: (1)Recommendations to the Building Code Council for lighting, insulation, climate control systems and other building design and construction standards which increase the efficient use of energy and are economically feasible to implement; (2)Recommendations to the Building Code Council for per unit energy requirement allotments based upon square footage for various classes of buildings which would reduce energy consumption, yet are both technically and economically feasible and not injurious to public health and safety; (3)Recommendations for minimum levels of operating efficiency for all appliances whose use requires a significant amount of energy based upon both technical and economic feasibility considerations; (4)Recommendations for State government purchases of supplies, vehicles and equipment and such operating practices as will make possible more efficient use of energy; (5)Recommendations on energy conservation policies, programs and procedures for local units of government; (6)Any other recommendations which the Energy Policy Council considers to be a significant part of a statewide conservation effort and which include provisions for sufficient incentives to further energy conservation; (7)An economic and environmental impact analysis of the recommended program. (d)In addition to specific conservation recommendations, the Energy Efficiency Program shall contain proposals for implementation of such recommendations as can be carried out by executive order. Upon completion of a draft recommended program, the Council shall arrange for its distribution to interested parties and shall make the program available to the public and the Council further shall set a date for public hearing on said program. (e)Upon completion of the Energy Efficiency Program, the Council shall transmit said program, to be known as the State Energy Efficiency Program, to the Governor for approval or disapproval. Upon approval, the Governor shall assign administrative responsibility for such implementation as can be carried out by executive order to appropriate agencies of State government, and submit to the General Assembly such proposals which require legislative action for implementation. The Governor shall have the authority to accept, administer, and enforce federal programs, program measures and permissive delegations of authority delegated to the Governor by the President of the United States, Congress, or the United States Department of Energy, on behalf of the State of North Carolina, which pertain to the conservation of energy resources. (f)The Governor shall transmit the approved Energy Efficiency Program to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the heads of all State agencies and shall further seek to publicize such plan and make it available to all units of local government and to the public at large. (g)At least every five years and whenever such changes take place as would significantly affect energy supply or demand in North Carolina, the Energy Policy Council shall review and, if necessary, revise the Energy Efficiency Program, transmitting such revised plan to the Governor pursuant to the procedures contained in subsections (e) and (f) of this section. History: History.1975, c. 877, s. 4; 1981, c. 701, s. 1; 2000-140, s. 76(c); 2013-365, s. 8(f).