The professional advisor described below was in my mind when I wrote the fifth bullet point of the proposal entitled “The Next Act”. That proposal is here.
Bill Allen 01-07-20
I propose what I will call a Certified Energy Advisor or CEA. This person will do much more than audit and make recommendations for a home, and will represent what I believe will be a new profession. Qualifications and tasks follow.
[1] CEA may be a single person or a firm with multiple persons. Comments below assume a single person.
[2] CEA will have no business interests in any product or service that he or she recommends.
[3] CEA will meet with and advise household representatives as clients, who will pay a fee for the service.
[4] CEA will review household records and determine the expenditures for all forms of energy for autos, home heating and cooling, and all appliances. He or she will project the increased costs for each of these with rising carbon fees over next 20 or more years, with no changes in consumption patterns, sometimes called business as usual (BAU).
[5] CEA will project the carbon dividends the household will receive over 20 or more years.
[6] CEA will show how this dividend stream can be used as collateral for one or more loans to implement proposals he or she or the household representatives propose.
[7] CEA will describe several actions that the household can take to consume less energy or to transition to non-carbon energy. He or she will estimate the cost for each action and the savings that it will produce compared to BAU.
[8] For those actions that are most attractive, the CEA will help the household find business people who are reliable and are capable of implementing the actions.