Water Heater Efficiency Act to Help Coops?
Republican Senator John Hoeven and a bipartisan group of senators today introduced the Water Heater Efficiency Act, a bill that would enable rural electric power coops and their members to continue using large, energy-efficient water heaters in “demand response” conservation programs. New Department of Energy rules threaten to phase out such water heaters by 2015. The bill is seen as a win for coops using this relatively inexpensive energy storage method. For more on this story and details on what kind of water heaters would qualify, click here.