Testimony: The Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018
Hervé Billiet, Ipsun Power’s CEO, gave the following comments in support of the pending local renewable energy legislation, The Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018, in the District this month. DC has also adopted a strong climate action plan and modernization plans, but this Omnibus Act and persuading DC’s energy commissions is another crucial step.
Read Ipsun Power’s testimony:
I speak to you as a father of 2 boys, as a husband married to a Doctor, as an engineer with a Master in Electro-mechanical engineering with an MBA from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, as the CEO of Ipsun Power, a local solar company installing solar panels on residential and commercial buildings in and round our nation’s capital. DC is home to 169 solar businesses. Ipsun Power is one of them.
As a business owner, installing solar energy systems, we deal with customers interested in going solar. We have 2 types of customers. We deal with individuals, families, people working full time to make ends meet and ask us how going solar really works and what it means for them. We also deal with businesses that usually have more time to dig deep into the numbers and calculate the financial benefits of going solar. Both types of customers have in common that they want stability. I urge you to provide stability to the markets. Nobody wants to invest in an unstable market with short term rules.
This Omnibus Act provides the bold action needed to match the urgency of the climate crisis. The cost of inaction will be astronomical and contrary to common belief, the cost won’t just be for our children, but many of us in this room will see the damage caused by climate change in our lifetime.
According to the Solar Jobs Census of 2017, solar grew by 110% nationally, which was nine times faster than the overall US economy. Solar jobs are projected to grow by 20% in DC. There are more jobs in the clean energy industry than in old dirty energy industry, today. Let these numbers sink in for a moment.
You want to create high paying meaningful jobs, save the planet, lower your population’s monthly expenses on utility bills. No need to look any future, you have your answer. You know what to do.
There will come a time where people will ask you what you did to prevent climate change. It’s easy to blame the petrochemical industry saying they knew all along and didn’t act. In just a few years, people will tell you that you knew all along, as the evidence is clear with yesterday’s special IPCC report, and will ask you what you did about Climate Change. The fight to reduce the impacts of climate change is the most important issue of our time.
I’ll end my testimony by quoting the latest IPCC report where we all need to rise to the occasion:
Human activities are estimated to have caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels, with a likely range of 0.8°C to 1.2°C. Global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.
I therefore ask you to implement the good ideas of the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018. Let’s turn these meaningful goals into meaningful actions.
Hervé Billiet
