Some counties in Southeast Tennessee are deciding if it’s necessary to join a state program that would update residential building codes to conserve electricity.
“The cleanest energy of all is the energy that we don’t use,” Gov. Phil Bredesen said in a news release after state lawmakers last year passed the conservation program.
The average Tennessee household uses 41 percent more electricity than the typical U.S. household, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
One of the program’s components, the Clean Energy Future Act, encourages all counties and municipalities to adopt building codes before July. State records show that Bledsoe, Grundy, McMinn, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie counties lack building codes, although some of their cities have them.
It’s not mandatory for counties to adopt codes, but state officials have put in some incentives for local governments.