by Shane Henson — April 18, 2012—States and utilities invested more than $811 million in industrial energy efficiency programs in 2010, far exceeding the spending by the federal government and other national-level programs. Nationwide, all industrial energy efficiency programs spent well over $1.1 billion in 2010, according to a new report, Money Well Spent: Industrial Energy Efficiency Program Spending in 2010, released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
According to ACEEE, a nonprofit created to act as a catalyst to advance energy efficiency policies, programs, technologies, investments and behaviors, the report details a first-time ever estimate of total industrial energy efficiency deployment and technical assistance at the federal, state, and utility levels. States and utilities were responsible for about two-thirds of all industrial energy efficiency program spending in 2010, reflecting a strong prioritization of industrial energy efficiency by certain state lawmakers and regulators, say the report’s authors.
The study captures annual spending by a wide variety of state and utility programs across the country, including utilities and ratepayer-funded public benefit fund organizations, state agencies, public universities, nonprofit organizations, and locally administered federal programs.
Per the report, industrial energy efficiency program spending varied considerably from state to state. New York ranked first in overall industrial program spending, bolstered by strong utility spending and the significant impacts of the programs run by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The next five biggest spenders on industrial energy efficiency were California, Pennsylvania, Washington, Massachusetts and Oregon.
