In his nearly three decades of public service work, Dub has been a tireless advocate for energy efficiency, clean energy and performance contracting in the public sector. Currently, treasurer of the Texas Solar Energy Society Board of Directors, Dub splits his time between the Energy Services Coalition, where he’s its Executive Director and the Texas PACE Authority where he’s COO. From 1999-2020, Dub was Executive Director of the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO), the state agency charged with helping state and local governments, schools and state agencies reduce their energy footprint through conservation and renewables. With the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, we wanted Dub’s thoughts on how those funds will impact SECO. Here’s our conversation.
TXSES: How did you find your way to the SECO office?
DT: Typical of state government, it wasn’t a direct path. I was doing campaign work in Dallas when I got recruited to work for the Railroad Commission. I agreed, assuming it would be a short six-month stint. Six years later, SECO moved from the General Services Commission (GSC) to the Comptroller. And while the office moved, it moved without management. That’s when I got the call from the Comptroller’s Office to help. The office needed to be evaluated; was the legislature interested in retaining the office? Ultimately, the decision was to keep SECO. My task: assess, determine what needed to be done and pivot to enhance its inherent value to the state.
TXSES: The energy office has had many iterations, as you said.*
DT: SECO’s move from GSC to the Comptroller was its eighth. It had different names, it was its own agency twice, went through Sunset twice. Historically, it was a political office, very policy-oriented. It had resources and programs that were aligned with the current elected official and when that changed, programs and resources started all over again. It was very inefficient. Moving SECO to the Comptroller’s Office de-politicized it. As the state’s CFO, the Comptroller is concerned with revenue, expenditures. Its very existence starts and ends with the bottom line. SECO is the state office responsible for maximizing tax dollars used to support public facilities. Overall, the Comptroller is a good, natural fit for SECO.
TXSES: Has SECO’s scope of work changed over the years in response to ever-changing statewide needs?
DT: Yes. While energy efficiency opportunities are still at the core of SECO, it now includes water management. We can make more energy; we can’t make more water. We can conserve precious water resources by measuring and managing. Like energy audits, SECO performs water audits. The Loan Star Program funds water or energy projects, or both. The split of funding is about 75% energy, 25% water.
TXSES: How are funds allocated to SECO?
DT: Hard to believe but some funding is still oil overcharge – most all allocated to LoanStar making up half of the fund. For that initial investment, LoanStar has a 3x impact by leveraging Federal funds and generating tax dollar savings of $750 million. Beyond that, SECO does rely much on state appropriated dollars. Since SECO has been successful going after federal dollars for program activities, this affects how much state funding is appropriated.
TXSES: The Renewable Energy Demonstration Program…why is it still referred to as a demonstration? Are we still demonstrating new technologies?
DT: That’s how it’s referred to in statute under oil overcharge funding. SECO is very careful to stay within the guardrails of the statutes, not to stray outside its authority.
TXSES: What are your thoughts on how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will impact Texas writ large and SECO particularly?
DT: The IRA is largely tax credits and incentives, more tailored to individual homeowners. There are some programs, like the HOMES housing rebate program that states can apply for. For any low-moderate income housing incentive funds, SECO could partner with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), where SECO would administer the grant and TDHCA provides its expertise for that set of homeowners. . It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.
TXSES: In your experience, what are some of SECO’s biggest challenges?
DT: Staffing. Currently, SECO has as small a staff as has ever been. This is due to retirements and COVID-related attrition. Filling vacancies is challenging. Finding people with subject matter expertise is one thing; retaining those with institutional knowledge is another. When you compare state service employment with the tech sector in Austin, it’s little wonder why it’s a challenge to hire and retain public servants. SECO has always been off the radar. It does really good work and deserves more attention.
TXSES: What would you say are some of SECO’s biggest successes?
DT: Without a doubt, it’s the LoanSTAR Revolving Loan Program. Launched in 1989, the low-interest revolving loan program finances energy retrofits in public facilities and local governments. Loans are repaid with the cost savings from the energy projects. As of 2022 , this wildly successful program has funded more than 340 loans totaling more than $600M creating savings of $230M each year! Even more impressive: there’s never been a default in its three- decade history.
TXSES: That’s some serious bragging rights, especially for a state program. That said, what’s surprised you the most with this work?
DT: There’s always been a deep, genuine appreciation from SECO customers. Working with under resourced small school districts, SECO is able to offer technical and financial resources to the facilities that are in dire need of repair and upgrading. Students and faculty are so appreciative. It’s enormously rewarding and humbling.
TXSES: Where do you see SECO in the next five years?
DT: How to thoughtfully maximize the recent surplus of federal money (i.e., Inflation Reduction Act). That includes leveraging those funds where possible. These Federal stimulus package fundings happen about once in a decade; the last one was in 2009 with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). It’s absolutely essential to maximize the opportunity when it comes along.
*Originally known as the Governor’s Energy Advisory Council (1975), SECO has been housed in a number of state agencies and undergone several name changes since its inception. In 1999, the 76th Texas Legislature transferred the energy office to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The primary funding source for SECO programs has been oil overcharge settlement dollars resulting from federal court settlements of alleged violations of price controls in effect for crude oil and refined petroleum products between 1973 and 1981. While the U.S. Department of Energy is the federal agency responsible for ensuring compliance with the court settlements, the state’s responsibility is to return these funds to the citizens of Texas through promoting and supporting energy efficiency and renewable energy programs according to state and federal guidelines.