Globe Newswire | Capstone's Jim Crouse to Testify at Today's House Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing

Capstone's Jim Crouse to Testify at Today's House Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing
Globe Newswire | February 26, 2013

Capstone Turbine Corporation, the world's leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, today announced that Jim Crouse will testify on behalf of the U.S. Combined Heat & Power Association. Mr. Crouse will sit on a panel at the hearing that will feature representatives from a wide range of private industries to discuss innovation in energy savings performance contracts, combined heat and power systems, and industrial efficiency technologies.

The panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will highlight private-sector innovation and success in energy efficiency -- and the bipartisan support for those efforts -- in today's hearing.

Energy efficiency has been a particular focus of the Obama administration. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has launched several efficiency-related goals and initiatives, including reducing commercial building energy use by 20 percent by 2020; issuing codified efficiency standards for more than 30 products since 2009, with another nine standards likely to be finalized by the end of this year; and enabling the federal government through energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) to save $3.5 billion in energy costs associated with approximately $1.2 billion in project investment through the Federal Energy Management Program, according to DOE's website. The U.S. government has committed $2 billion for performance-based contracts to improve the energy efficiency of federal buildings by 2014.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, tops the witness list for the Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing, along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) aims to continue to tout the bipartisan and bicameral interest in energy efficiency, along with the private sector's benefits and challenges -- including innovative financing, government contracts, consumer interest and support for combined heat and power and waste heat recovery, according to the committee hearing background memo.

In addition, Murkowski is likely to discuss her energy "blueprint" of 200 policy recommendations released earlier this month, which includes making financing accessible for efficiency retrofits in both the federal arena and private markets and improved integrated efficiency systems, as measured per unit of gross domestic product rather than through less energy production (Greenwire, Feb. 4).

Shaheen co-sponsored a controversial bill on energy efficiency last year, S. 1000, with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio). The bill included mandates that the Energy Department better coordinate efficiency research, a requirement to study the deployment of industrial energy efficiency and provisions related to the government's use of advanced metering, energy management and data collection.

The bill stalled over disagreement on a new DOE loan guarantee and other financing mechanisms to promote efficiency and new recommended building codes. Portman said last year that they planned to adjust the legislation with an eye toward fiscal responsibility for this congressional session.

Whitfield championed one of the only energy bills with bipartisan support to become law last year -- H.R. 6582, sponsored by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) (E&E Daily, Dec. 5, 2012). The bill passed 398-2 in the House and by unanimous consent in the Senate and was signed by the President last December.

Investment in efficiency technologies, and the resulting energy bill savings, supported a net gain of about 300,000 more jobs for the American economy, after accounting for the fact that the energy efficiency investments reduced the need for jobs associated with investments in traditional energy supply, according to a report released last week by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). ACEEE's associate director for research, Neal Elliott, will testify at the hearing.

The report notes that between $480 billion and $670 billion -- with a midpoint of $574 billion -- was spent on energy-efficient goods and services in 2010, an 80 percent increase from a similar ACEEE study done in 2004 (ClimateWire, Feb. 20).

Also set to testify at today's hearing is Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency Kathleen Hogan, who will represent the Energy Department.

A third panel at the hearing will feature representatives from a range of private industries to discuss innovation in energy savings performance contracts, combined heat and power systems, and industrial efficiency technologies. Companies include ABB Inc., a leading provider of smart grid technology, on behalf of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and Industrial Energy Efficiency Coalition, and Capstone, on behalf of the U.S. Combined Heat & Power Association.

"Significant energy efficiency opportunities remain, particularly in the nation's industrial and manufacturing sectors," the committee background hearing memo said. "Promoting industrial efficiency technologies and supporting innovative manufacturing processes can cut industrial energy consumption, reduce industrial waste, and improve industrial competitiveness. Moreover, increasing the use of combined heat and power and waste heat recovery can provide an additional source of affordable and reliable energy in the U.S."

About Capstone Turbine Corporation

Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq:CPST) is the world's leading producer of low-emission microturbine systems, and was the first to market commercially viable microturbine energy products. Capstone Turbine has shipped over 6,500 Capstone Microturbine systems to customers worldwide. These award-winning systems have logged millions of documented runtime operating hours. Capstone Turbine is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Combined Heat and Power Partnership, which is committed to improving the efficiency of the nation's energy infrastructure and reducing emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. A UL-Certified ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certified company, Capstone is headquartered in the Los Angeles area with sales and/or service centers in the New York Metro Area, Mexico City, Nottingham, Shanghai and Singapore.

The Capstone Turbine Corporation logo is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6212

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is used in the federal securities laws, about government interest in energy efficiency applications and the benefits of increased use of our products. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "objective," "intend," "targeted," "plan" and similar phrases. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties described in Capstone's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that may cause Capstone's actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied in such statements. Capstone cautions readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Capstone undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

"Capstone" and "Capstone MicroTurbine" are registered trademarks of Capstone Turbine Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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