Dorgan Invites North Dakota Energy Expert To Testify At Energy Subcommittee Hearing

DORGAN INVITES NORTH DAKOTA ENERGY EXPERT TO TESTIFY AT ENERGY SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING

Congress should push for increased funding that will help establish energy efficiency programs such as the one that has earned the state of North Dakota national recognition, North Dakota Department of Commerce official Kim Christianson said Monday at a hearing chaired by U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND).

Dorgan, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Energy, invited Christianson to testify at the hearing on energy efficiency. Christianson outlined federally supported programs that help North Dakota residents, businesses and government entities to reduce energy use and costs. The programs include an initiative that saves $3 million annually in energy costs in state-owned buildings. Another program, called the Weatherization Assistance Program, provides energy efficiency improvements to residences that have helped more than 2,700 low-income North Dakotans, Christianson said.

Christianson urged the Senate subcommittee to increase federal support for the programs.

"North Dakota has vast and diverse energy resources that we need to develop to help our nation achieve energy security. But we can't overlook the importance of energy efficiency in ridding America of its dependence on foreign sources of energy," Dorgan said. "Mr. Christianson's testimony offered a great example of the ways states are pursuing energy efficiency programs with federal support, and I'll keep pushing Congress to invest in these important programs."

http://dorgan.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=269190