Your Voice Matters: CA CEC Publishes Draft Building Energy Performance Strategy Report (BPS)

The CEC (California Energy Commission) put out an initial report to develop a strategy to track and manage energy usage and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. This is an early effort to achieve CA's goals, targets, and standards related to energy usage and emissions reductions. Specifically, it targets buildings greater than 50,000 sq.ft. The issues with this initial report are as follows:

• The benchmarking program encourages local governments to also create programs for buildings under 50,000 sq.ft., which would create a patchwork of local programs that would be impossible for CA residents and business owners to keep track of. If you own/manage several buildings in varying local jurisdictions, this would be a massive headache for you. 
• The report fails to highlight incentives as a major driver. Building owners and managers should be given major incentives if they are expected to reduce their energy usage and GHG emissions in accordance with the state's lofty goals. 
• Owners/managers will be prohibited from passing penalties from failing to meet energy targets onto their tenants. So, costs will be imposed purely on the owner/manager. This could be devastating for your bottom line.
• The effects these requirements would have on warehouses, logistics, cold storage, light and mixed industrial could significantly worsen the CA home supply.
• There are no clear exemptions for grid limitations. AKA: If you have to fully electrify your building, and there doesn't exist enough electricity for you to do so, then too bad you're going to be penalized for this. 
• Feasibility and significant cost impacts are two critical items that are not adequately evaluated. 

Why should your members act now? The final version of the report will be submitted to the legislature by August 1, 2026. That final report will be used to influence legislation going forward, which could take the form of enforceable requirements. If you and your members participate in this comment period, you can get ahead of the eight ball and ensure legislators are informed of the impacts certain measures would have on your members. 

How can you be involved? Send comments to Matthew Hargrove mhargrove@cbpa.com and Bob Raymer at rraymer@cbia.org by July 23 and watch out for a Zoom meeting that they're sending out soon. Also, participate in the July 29 workshop.