States up efficiency investments & power savings; push net-zero
buildings & electric vehicles; NJ, CT, CO, SD improve most; MA and CA
lead
As the US government loosens environmental rules, states are investing
more in energy efficiency and delivering increased power savings,
according to the 2018 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. This 12th annual
report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
(ACEEE), released today, identifies the leaders (Massachusetts and
California), the most-improved states, notably New Jersey, the states
that lost ground such as Iowa, and those lagging behind, including North
Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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2018 ACEEE State Scorecard US Map (Graphic: Business Wire)
The scorecard offers mostly good news about energy efficiency — the
nation’s third-largest
electricity resource. In response to federal efforts to freeze US
vehicle and appliance standards, quite a few states worked to retain
their own standards and to promote electric vehicles as well as
zero-energy buildings. While some, like Iowa and Connecticut, saw
legislative attacks within their states, others — including Virginia,
New York, New Jersey, Colorado, and Arkansas — unveiled plans to boost
investments in efficiency and clean energy, often driven by concerns
about climate change.
The scorecard, which ranks states on 32 metrics in six areas, finds:
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New Jersey improved the most, moving up five ranks to #18. The
Garden State set new annual energy savings targets and took steps to
rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate cap and
trade emissions compact. Missouri, Connecticut, Colorado,
and South Dakota showed marked improvement.
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Massachusetts continued to rank #1 overall. It launched a plan
to set new three-year energy savings targets and approved utility
spending for grid-scale modernization. A close second is California,
followed by Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut,
New York, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, and Maryland.
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Iowa fell the most, moving down five spots to #24. This drop
was due mostly to a bill signed earlier this year that imposes a
restrictive cap on efficiency programs and allows customers to opt out
of paying for some of them. Sixteen other states fell in the rankings.
States
increased investments in energy efficiency in the utility
sector. They spent nearly $8.0 billion last year, up from $7.6 billion
in 2016. The result was a 7.3% increase in electricity savings (nearly
26.5 million megawatt-hours) — enough to power about 2.5 million US
homes per year.
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States ramped up efforts to promote zero-emission vehicles
(ZEV), mostly electric, as the federal government sought to freeze
fuel economy standards for cars and SUVs. California joined with eight
other states in rolling out an updated ZEV plan, which incentivizes
consumers to buy ZEVs
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More states pushed for zero-energy construction (buildings that
produce as much power as they use) largely through tougher building
codes. California, Vermont, Rhode Island, Oregon, Washington, the
District of Columbia and Massachusetts have incorporated net
zero-energy construction into long-range plans.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is a
nonpartisan, nonprofit research group that explores energy-saving
policies, programs, technologies, investments, and behaviors.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181004005643/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2018
Source: Business Wire
(October 4, 2018 - 12:42 PM EDT)
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