by Rebecca Walker — March 2, 2009—If the energy efficiency across the United States was equivalent to that of the top performing states, the nation could save 1.2 million GWh, equivalent to 30 percent of its annual electricity use, according to a new report from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI).
The report found a huge gap in electric productivity and the implementation of energy efficiency between the top performing states and the rest of the nation, sufficient to provide a 34 percent reduction in projected electricity demand while maintaining 2.5 percent annual economic growth, by 2020.
Electric productivity is measured as the dollars of gross domestic product (GDP) generated for each kilowatt-hour consumed.
According to the report, the top five performing states, in order, are New York, Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware and California, all with an electric productivity greater than 6.2. The five worst performing states, with an electric productivity less than 2.3, are South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi.
The Rocky Mountain Institute is a nonprofit organization focused on energy policy. The study, “Assessing the Electric Productivity Gap and the U.S. Efficiency Opportunity,” was by Natalie Mims, Mathias Bell and Stephen Doig of RMI’s Energy and Resources team. For more information, see the Rocky Mountain Institute Web site.
