by Brianna Crandall — October 5, 2016 — A new report by the Colorado State University Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE), prepared for the Advanced Energy Economy Institute (AEE Institute), outlines 20 policy options states could adopt to promote energy efficiency. In the past decade, energy efficiency mandates — often called energy efficiency resource standards (EERSs) — have been the primary policy tool for driving investment in energy efficiency.
With many of these policies approaching their target dates and needing to be extended or replaced in order to continue capitalizing on their cost-saving benefits, some state officials are looking for ways to maintain market certainty for energy efficiency that can work in conjunction with, or independently from, an EERS.
The report, State Policies to Expand Market Certainty for Energy Efficiency without an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard, is the second in a series of four papers produced by CNEE analyzing policies for energy efficiency (Parts 1 and 2) and renewable energy (Parts 3 and 4). Parts 1 and 3 discuss the prospects for extending and enhancing established policies, and Parts 2 and 4 propose innovative policy options that could work with or without an EERS and Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The papers also draw from experience in many states to outline best practices.
The paper notes that energy efficiency is one of the lowest cost, lowest risk energy resources available today. However, deployment falls short of what is economically feasible because of regulatory and policy barriers at the state level. Removing those barriers can level the playing field and lead to greater deployment of energy efficiency.
According to Graham Richard, CEO of Advanced Energy Economy, a national business group affiliated with AEE Institute:
Most state policymakers know that energy efficiency is the best way to lower costs for customers through lower energy bills, improved reliability, and greater control over energy use. This report gives state policymakers a set of proven policy tools to create growing markets for energy-saving technologies and services.
The 20 policy options identified in the paper are broken into five categories: regulatory mechanisms, financing programs, technology-specific policies, administration of existing programs, and investment in low-income communities. Each policy is described in detail, and model policies and programs drawn from states across the country are provided.
State Policies to Expand Market Certainty for Energy Efficiency without an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard is available for download from the AEE Web site.
