Missing the Mark: Five-Year Report Card on the Energy Efficiency Provisions of the Energy Policy Act

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Alliance to Save Energy

November, 1997

Executive Summary

On October 24, 1992, President George Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (known as EPAct) into law. The law devoted considerable attention to energy conservation and included a wide range of provisions aimed at increasing energy efficiency in buildings, appliances, industries, and transport. Expectations were high that significant energy savings would result.

Today, five years later, as the United States and other countries are negotiating an international treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the Alliance to Save Energy and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy are taking a hard look at how effectively the energy efficiency provisions in EPAct were implemented. For each major energy efficiency provision, we reviewed the requirements, the actions taken to meet these requirements, and the overall degree of success. In addition, we assigned letter grades to implementation of each major title (or subtitle) as well as to each major actor involved in implementation of EPAct efficiency provisions.

Click to order hard copy.

101 pps., 1997, $20.00, E975