California Ranks #1; Louisiana Most Improved
Energy efficiency investments in states recently rebounded to a record yearly high of $8.8 billion, according to the 2025 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. But the scorecard found Read the Scorecardthat more than 90% of the increase in investments in 2023 are concentrated in just five states—Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania—showing that many more states need to take greater action to reduce energy costs.
California claimed the top spot for the seventh time, scoring 93.5 points out of 100 on the new American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) scorecard, which ranks the 50 states and DC on their policies and programs aimed at reducing energy costs and cutting climate pollution through energy efficiency. Massachusetts came in second, followed by New York. Maryland climbed to fourth place, tying Vermont.
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The most improved state, Louisiana, jumped nine places. It adopted a strong building energy code, primarily motivated by skyrocketing insurance costs due to extreme weather exacerbated by climate change. Colorado reached the top 10 for the first time, advancing six spots to #7 after adopting policies for clean vehicles, implementing a building performance standard to reduce energy consumption in large buildings, and enacting a range of appliance efficiency standards. New Jersey ranked #8, returning to the top 10 for the first time since 2008.
Efficiency programs in states invested more than $2 billion annually to help low-income households make energy-saving upgrades that reduce their monthly utility bills—nearly twice as much as in 2021—but similarly more than three-quarters of that increase was concentrated in just four states: California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New York.
“Leading states are reducing costs and cutting pollution through energy savings measures, but many other states are stagnating,” said Mark Kresowik, senior policy director at ACEEE and lead author of the scorecard. “American families have endured years of rising costs and need relief. Energy efficiency upgrades lower utility bills, and now is the time for state policymakers and regulators to help more families see those savings.”
Buildings
Only six states have fully adopted the most recent model building energy code, giving other states a key opportunity to save energy and reduce families’ utility bills. Nine states have no statewide building energy code at all, though one of them, Colorado, requires localities to adopt up-to-date building codes.
Updated building codes apply to new buildings, and to save energy in existing buildings, four states and the District of Columbia have adopted a building energy performance standard requiring large buildings to gradually reduce energy consumption or climate pollution.
Since the last State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, in 2022, nine states have adopted or updated appliance standards that reduce energy or water use. Ten states have adopted clean lighting standards, phasing out the sale of fluorescent lights, which contain mercury, in favor of more efficient LED bulbs.
Transportation
To reduce transportation emissions, 12 states have adopted clean vehicle standards first developed by California, which requires automakers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission cars. Fifteen states have signed agreements to start moving medium- and heavy-duty vehicles like buses and semi-trucks from fossil fuels to zero-emission alternatives.
Twenty-four states have reduced the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per person over a decade. Leading policies to reduce VMT since the last scorecard include Washington state’s $3 billion program for grants for transit and active transportation like walking and biking, with a focus on communities of color and low-income and rural communities. Maryland adopted a plan to reduce VMT by 20% as part of its climate pollution reduction plan.
Industry
In the industrial sector, recent growth partially driven by federal investments in domestic clean energy manufacturing and heavy industry has created jobs in new factories, data centers, and other facilities. Nineteen states have set industrial decarbonization targets. Meeting these targets will require a workforce to accommodate the clean energy transition, and 30 states have state-supported industrial energy efficiency job training programs.
The State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, now in its 16th edition, is based on data collected from state utility commissions, state energy offices, and publicly available data. ACEEE provided state utility commissions and energy offices the opportunity to review and comment on a draft version of the scorecard prior to its publication.
