ACEEE “RATES THE STATES” IN THE NEW ENERGY EFFICIENCY SCORECARD
Expanding its traditional ranking of states on utility program spending, ACEEE issued a new and more comprehensive scorecard, The State Energy Efficiency Scorecard for 2006, that rates state accomplishment on multiple efficiency policy and program initiatives. These include: utility program spending; Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS); appliance efficiency standards; building codes; combined heat and power; tax incentives; mass transit spending; state facility and fleet management; and vehicle fuel economy.
Read the press release.
Watch the Scorecard Webcast with Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and ACEEE Deputy Director Bill Prindle.
More and more states are turning to energy efficiency as the “first fuel” in the race for clean and secure energy resources. In states’ commitments to advance energy efficiency policies and programs, they are outpacing the federal government by a widening margin. States are leading the way on appliance standards, building codes, energy efficiency resource standards, and other key policies that drive energy efficiency investment. To encourage federal action to catch up, and to provide models for other states, it is important to recognize leadership among the states and highlight their best practices.
The scorecard rates the 50 states and the District of Columbia on progress in eight energy efficiency policies. The top 10 states, listed above, are those with the most robust and diverse efficiency policies. The next 15 states trail fairly moderately behind the top 10, but the lower-scoring states seriously lag behind the others. The report lists best practices for each of the eight policy categories, which should serve as a model for those states in the lower half of the scoring.
For states that use energy efficiency to balance their energy markets, efficiency can act as an immediate, reliable, and cost effective hedge against volatile energy prices and supply constraints. However, lower-scoring states which typically have had abundant supplies of conventional energy sources, put their energy markets at risk for higher prices and total bills, blackouts, and environmental damage.
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