Efficiency Budgets Grow Rapidly

On Dec. 10, the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) released its 2010 Annual Industry Report, State of the Efficiency Program Industry. This survey, conducted in cooperation with the American Gas Association and the Institute for Electric Efficiency, found that budgets for energy efficiency programs in the United States and Canada rose to $7.5 billion in 2010. This is more than a 40 percent increase from the expenditures in these programs in 2009, which was $5.3 billion. In both electricity and natural gas, the United States and Canada have benefited greatly from rapidly growing efficiency programs, according to the report.

“Increasing investment in energy efficiency, as highlighted by CEE’s latest annual report, demonstrates a growing awareness of the economic and environmental benefits of efficiency programs,” said Floyd DesChamps, vice president of policy at the Alliance. “I am confident that the 2010 budget increases will result in further savings, and reinforce this promising trend toward energy efficiency.”

Energy Efficiency Saves Big on Electricity, Gas, CO2

The annual report found that budgets within the United State for energy efficiency programs in the electric sector have roughly doubled since 2007 – from $2.7 billion to $5.4 billion. Meanwhile, natural gas efficiency program budgets have seen a similar rise of 160 percent in the same period. From 2009 to 2010 alone, six states more than doubled their efficiency program budgets.

These investments have had important consequences. CEE estimates that efficiency programs in the United States and Canada in 2009 saved more than 100,000 gigawatt hours of electricity and 900 million therms of natural gas. According to CEE, these savings represent 80 million metric tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions. Across North America, utilities, investors and governments are seeing the economic and environmental benefits of efficiency.

“Energy efficiency represents a major strategy for electric utilities as they move forward to address their energy and environmental challenges,” said Lisa Wood, executive Director of the Institute for Electric Efficiency, in a press release. “Efficiency remains a highly cost effective resource; the U.S. electric utility industry is riding four years of double-digit growth in both electric efficiency expenditures and savings.”

Survey Background

The Annual Industry Report has been conducted by CEE since 2006. Since 2009 CEE has worked with the American Gas Association and the Institute for Electric Efficiency to make the report more comprehensive while reducing redundancy between organizational studies. The study uses a survey of 316 of the largest utility and nonutility administrators who operate efficiency programs. These administrators represent programs in 45 states and eight Canadian provinces.

Additional data is available at www.cee1.org.