Leading States: Utility Sector and Public Benefit Programs and Policies
Leading states identified in ACEEE's State Energy Efficiency Policy Scorecard have made major strides in incorporating energy efficiency into their utility sector and/or public benefits programs, including robust spending on efficiency, high levels of energy savings, aggressive energy savings targets, and supporting policies to remove disincentives to utilities and to reward utilities for meeting goals.
Vermont. Vermont continues to be a leader in Utility and Public Benefits Programs and Policies. Efficiency Vermont, which began operations in 2000, is the state’s provider of electric energy efficiency services, funded by an “energy efficiency charge” or “EEC” that is included in electric rates on customers’ monthly electric bills. In 2006, state spending on electric efficiency programs was about $15.8 million, which is equivalent to 2.4% of utility revenues, more than any other state and nearly 5 times the national average. State efficiency programs saved about 1% of the state’s electric needs in 2006 and in 2007 saved about 1.7%. State gas efficiency programs also lead the nation, with relative spending levels the highest of any state. In addition to spending and savings data, Vermont has set aggressive energy efficiency targets and established utility performance incentives for the state's "energy efficiency utility" (Efficiency Vermont) to encourage targets to be met. It also recently approved a decoupling plan for Green Mountain Power, one of the state's investor-owned electric utilities.
California. California’s utility-sector energy efficiency programs date back to the 1970s and have significantly expanded over the past three decades. The state’s investor-owned utilities and publicly-owned utilities administer energy efficiency programs. In 2006, utilities spent about $357 million on utility-sector efficiency programs, equivalent to about 1% of utility revenues. Electricity savings from these programs totaled about 0.7% of the state’s electric needs in 2006. Also, decoupling has been in place for many years in California and is an integral policy for California's "big, bold" energy efficiency initiative. In the next few years California will need to further expand their energy use reduction efforts to meet climate change goals enacted into law in 2006, which call for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
Connecticut. Connecticut has operated utility-administered energy efficiency programs for many years. In 2005, that state legislature passed the “Energy Independence Act,” requiring 1% of its electricity demand to be met from energy efficiency by 2007, rising 1% per year to 4% in 2010. In 2006, Connecticut utilities spent the equivalent of 1.5% of its utility revenues on efficiency programs and met 1% of the state’s electric needs from efficiency, which is five times higher than the national average. The state also has performance incentives in place to encourage and reward utilities for successfully reaching established performance targets. In 2007, the Connecticut legislature further increased efficiency efforts in the state, requiring the state’s utilities to acquire “all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost-effective, reliable, and feasible.” Initial proposals by the state’s utilities call for tripling energy efficiency spending over a five-year period to meet this mandate, and reducing sales below current levels by 2017. |
