My Energy Conservation Audit Disclosure letter to former Austin Mayor, Will Wynn

Chasingfun/Flickr

December 10th, 2009

Dear Mr. Wynn,

My name is John Barksdale and I'm an Austin homeowner.

In your June 11th, 2008 letter to the Austinist in which you reference the Energy Audit Ordinance, -which has evolved into the loathsome Energy Conservation Disclosure Audit (ECAD)-, you wrote,

"It WOULD require sellers to get an inexpensive energy audit and provide that information to prospective homebuyers."

Since you signed the mandatory ECAD into law, some details about the ordinance have changed since you penned your letter.

If an Austin homeowner fails to get an ECAD audit, a fine of up to $2000 for non-compliance and a Class C misdemeanor charge can be imposed. I guess you failed to mention the criminal charge in your letter? Also, the audit disclosure paperwork has to be submitted to Austin Energy so they can "keep it on file".

Austin Energy is a "community-owned" monopoly. As an Austin homeowner I can't take my money and buy electricity from a competing utility. Austin Energy sells me the electricity then browbeats me if I "use too much", or in your nanny-state jargon, "wasteful in their habits".

From your ABC News interview with Scott Mayerowitz on June 10, 2009, "Austin Forces Home Sellers to Pay for Energy Audits", "Wynn said the idea behind the ordinance was to encourage homeowners to upgrade their homes with more efficient air-conditioners, better windows and insulation. The original idea was just to require sellers to disclose their electric bills, but then he realized that some people are more wasteful in their habits than others. Hence, the home inspections."

I'm so pleased you decided to make yourself the arbiter of my labor, time and capital.

And the reason we have to "make expensive power purchases on the energy markets during the heat of summer" is because environmentalists like you make the construction of new power plants almost impossible. The French have a solution that produces electricity in a carbon-free manor; it's called nuclear power. Sadly, U.S. environmentalists demonized nuclear power in the 70's, so the utilities turned to cheap, abundant coal. Oh the environmental zealots of the 70's were so pleased with themselves! They had stopped the construction of new power plants in America, yet electricity utilities met consumer demands by contracting coal-burning plants. Well done environmentalists, pat yourself on the back.

Mr. Wynn, the amount of electricity I purchase and consume is my business, not yours or the business of the City of Austin.

Why am I so tough on you Mr. Wynn? Because you could have stood up for homeowner's liberty and property rights with a veto of the mandatory audit and its Class C misdemeanor.

Because you think you have the right to tell me what to do with my time, labor and capital, then I think I too have that right. Sir, how do you propose to pay for the ECAD audit of my Austin home?

After all, you did say it was inexpensive.

Regards,

John Barksdale
http://stoptheaustinecad.blogspot.com

Austin Energy Conservation Audit Disclosure Ordinance Claims First Victim

On the 6th of August, 2009, Paul Norris appeared before the Austin City Council. Mr. Norris submitted a personal letter, two emails and one photocopy of the Travis County Appraisal District tax assessment of his newly inherited property to the council and explained his concern.

Paul read his letter to the Council:

"Hello, mayor and members of the council. I'm here today to talk about some limitations to the ECAD ordinance, and I passed out some printed material and backup to that and I'm just pretty much going to read what I have here. I find myself in a unique situation today and I need your help. My family members and I inherited an old house within the last year and now have a contract for sale pending. The house is in very poor condition. Travis County Appraisal District values the house at one dollar. And the insurance carrier has recently canceled the homeowners policy due to the condition. And those are exhibits 1 and 2 in the material that I passed out. Under the current energy conservation audit and disclosure ordinance, ECAD, we've required to get an energy audit prior to sale. According to the city's website, the estimated cost of an audit is from $200 to $300 for a typical single-family home, 1800 square feet or smaller with one air conditioning system, which fits this house. The ordinance has a very narrow variance provisions which require both the seller and buyer's cooperation. The buyers are unwilling to consent due to their own time frames. The buyers have a nine-page inspection report which thoroughly addresses the house's energy issues. Existing code compliance will take care of the energy concerns when they finally get around to their remodel. Although I don't have any position on the ordinance one way or the other, I'm all for the environment. I've been recycling for 40 years, am a charter board member and founding sponsor of Keep Austin Beautiful and a formed the ecology action board member. Initially when I contacted city staff, they figured that the director could grant a variance, grant a waiver. However, city attorney Andy Purney says there is no provision for any other variance other than the one that's in the ordinance, which is either for a remodel or a demolition. There's two versions of it, within a six-month period after the sale transacts. I suggest the ordinance is poor. I suggest you all figure out how I can avoid the requirement in this case. Spending $200 to $300 on a house valued at one dollar in the midst of a recession doesn't make any sense. I don't believe that's the intention of this ordinance. Thank you."

Mayor Lee Leffingwell: Thank you, Mr. Norris. Councilmember Laura Morrison. Might be a question for you, Mr. Norris.

Council Member Laura Morrison: Actually if we have an attorney that --

Mayor Lee Leffingwell: We do.

Council Member Laura Morrison: That would be great. Could you talk a little bit about the waiver that goes into play if there's a demolition within six months in the future? How does that actually work?

Andy Perny: I am Andy Perny, Austin Energy legal services. He's correct, essentially there's two variance possibilities. There's actually a third related to undo hardship but that relates more to part of the ordinance that actually requires energy efficiency upgrades, not the audit portion. But essentially in order to qualify for the variance, both the buyer and seller would have to submit a variance application that they would agree to file the demolition permit within six months of the sale. That's just the plain wording of the ordinance.

Council Member Laura Morrison: I see. And that's not your situation here. Your buyer doesn't intend --

Paul Norris: The buyer is going to remodel it. There's two versions, the demolition and the remodel version. They are going to remodel it, but they are currently remodeling another property and are tied up on that project. There's an e-mail in here where their real estate agent is saying no, they are not going to enter into an agreement because of their own time frames.

Council Member Laura Morrison: and the remodel variance -- how does that actually work? It's required for that? Because it seems aparented someone is going to remodel it.

Andy Perny: I think there might be confusion because it was my understanding we were dealing with a demolition situation. The remodel situation is different. It doesn't contain a six-month gap. It simply states that the purchaser and seller have to agree to the remodel within a specified period of time.

Paul Norris: Well, when I had spoken to Steve Eanes and I clearly told him, he just got confused we originally --

Mayor Lee Leffingwell: Excuse me. This is not a colloquy here. We'll let the attorney speak and if there's another question for you.

Council Member Laura Morrison: Really maybe it sounds like a little more discussion is in order to clarify a few things. I wonder if you could take this off line and see if we can find a solution.


Thank you.



A gentleman comes comes before the Austin City Council to ask the Council to exempt him from the insidious, private-property rights violating ECAD. For his trouble Mr. Norris is scolded by the Mayor, bamboozled by the Austin Energy lawyer and swept aside by Councilmember Morrison.


By the way, do you know why the City Council had to get an Austin Energy attorney to answer a question about a single-home energy audit? The Energy Conservation Audit Disclosure was written with considerable input from Austin Energy's very own Andy Perny.


If you're wondering what became of Mr. Norris' plea...

Watch the Austin City Council dismiss Mr. Norris here.

Download Mr. Norris' supporting documentation here.

Sealing HVAC ducts and adding insulation won't help

The following letter is a reply I submitted to the Statesman.com article titled "Austin Climate Protection Program tries to ramp up its work, Jake Stewart, former soldier, sees the work as a security issue".

"The program aims to reduce carbon emissions, which scientists link to global warming..." is an editorial and can not go unchallenged as a "fact" Asher. The recent fallout of the Climate Research Unit in the UK (ClimateGate) is vivid proof that climate scientists have yet to form a consensus on the link, if any, between CO2 and temperature. This Climate Protection Plan is having some draconian side effects for Austin homeowners. The Austin Energy Conservation and Disclosure Ordinance mandates an energy audit for homeowners at the point of sale. However, if the abode is a mobile home without a foundation, a condominium, or a home less than 10 years old, those homeowners can use 10,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month and be exempt from the ECAD. Non-compliance of this ordinance is a Class C misdemeanor and up to a $2000 fine. To add insult to injury, Mr. Stewart, you work for a public utility, -a monopoly. If I wished to buy electricity from another provider as an Austinite, I can't. Austin Energy sells me their product as a monopoly, then tells me how I must use it. Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken, either of you can send me a check for $300, that should cover the cost of a mandatory energy audit for my home. It's your "great" idea, so you pay for it. Sealing some HVAC ducts in a single-family home and adding more insulation will not abate the need to build more power plants. Solar panels don't produce electricity at night and solar generates very little electricity under a cloudy sky. Austin's hand-wringing over a harmless trace gas in the atmosphere is laughable and a serious misallocation of capital and resources.

John Barksdale
http://stoptheaustinecad.blogspot.com/
identitythefthurts@gmail(dot)com

My letter to the Austin Energy Conservation and Disclosure Ordinance (ECAD) Task Force

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Austin Energy Conservation and Disclosure Ordinance (ECAD) Task Force,

I recently learned of the unanimous recommendation the ECAD Task Force offered to mandate an energy audit and disclosure for all Austin single-family homes at the point of sale. The Task Force was convened to "reduce peak demand and decrease the need for new power plants" as one of its stated objectives.

Unfortunately, the Task Force didn't measure the amount of electricity an Austin single-family household uses. For example, if my home were a manufactured home without a permanent foundation, I could use 10,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month and elude the ECAD audit. If my home were newer than 10 years old, I could use 10,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month and elude the ECAD audit. If I lived in a condominium, I could use 10,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month and elude the ECAD audit.

But I live in an older home (our Austin home was built in 1982) and I use an average of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhx0Xax3Jjc kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, and guess what? I get to fork out money for an energy audit! Isn't that fantastic? Since the task force thought it was a wonderful idea to mandate an audit for single-family homeowners and criminalize non-compliance with a Class C misdemeanor, I have a wonderful idea of my own.

Because the task force has decided to tell me how to spend my time and capital to meet their mandatory audit, I'd like to tell energy auditors in Austin how to spend their time and capital. I'd like an energy auditor to audit my home, free of charge.

My wife and I own our modest, 1500 square foot Austin home. The amount of electricity we purchase and consume in our home from Austin Energy is none of your business. I see where this velvet-gloved statism is heading. Some Task Force participants wish to mandate the correction of any deficiencies found during the ECAD audit. Luckily that provision was voted down, but it may be adopted when this liberty-violating ordinance is revisited in less than two years.

To add insult to injury, as an Austin homeowner I can't take my electricity "business" to a competing utility. I'm held captive as an indentured consumer of Austin Energy, -Austin's very own energy monopoly. How can you criminalize my failure to purchase an audit of MY PRIVATE PROPERTY as a homeowner with a Class C misdemeanor?

Respectfully,
John Barksdale

4014 JAFFNA CV
Austin, TX 78749
identitythefthurts@gmail(dot)com