THE OPPORTUNITY IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Energy Efficiency Gains Traction in Lagging States; Despite Long-Standing Barriers, Opportunities Abound for States Furthest Behind on Energy Efficiency

May 16, 2012 (American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy)

“Energy efficiency is gaining momentum in states traditionally ranked [low on developing it]…While these states must address numerous barriers to energy efficiency, a real window of opportunity exists to move efficiency forward…

“…Opportunity Knocks: Examining Low-Ranking States in the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard…by ACEEE… draws on a series of in-depth interviews with stakeholders in states ranked in the bottom ten of the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard: Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming…The findings and recommendations of the report are applicable to numerous other states struggling to advance energy efficiency...”

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“…[E]ach of the states examined in the report have successfully improved their energy efficiency in at least some way…Oklahoma…[recently put] all state agencies and higher education institutions [on track] to achieve at least 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2020…Alabama and South Carolina recently passed statewide building energy codes to ensure new homes and buildings are built to save energy from the start. A number of states, notably Kansas, have solid programs in place to plan and finance energy efficiency improvements in state government facilities.

“While many more opportunities remain for these states, numerous barriers are holding up progress on energy efficiency. The most notable barrier is the perception that energy efficiency costs more than it is worth…The report finds that a number of actions can advance energy efficiency and do not require major government spending or regulatory action…[such as] advancing energy efficiency projects in government facilities as well as at universities and schools using innovative financing methods that allow projects to be paid for by using the savings generated by the installed energy efficiency measures. States can also adopt and enforce building energy codes, implement utility-sector energy efficiency programs where such programs cost less than building new power plants, and support deployment of combined heat and power (CHP) projects…”

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