WASHINGTON - With Congress so far unable to pass a comprehensive energy bill including efficiency policies, states are showing the way on energy efficiency policy, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
Some of these state programs include the following: Massachusetts, Oregon, and California have instituted natural gas utility efficiency programs. Twenty states are operating public benefits funds to reduce electricity bills. Maryland and Connecticut have passed appliance efficiency standards designed to save electricity. New England states are planning ways to use energy efficiency and distributed generation to keep the transmission grid in shape. New York, Texas, and California are instituting new interconnection and electric rate policies for high-efficiency combined heat and power systems. Texas is using energy efficiency policies to address its air quality problems. Nine northeastern states have formed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, or "Reggie") to develop a mandatory cap-and-trade policy for carbon emissions. Similar efforts are underway on the West Coast.
ACEEE has documented this kind of state leadership in its publication Energy Efficiency's Next Generation: Innovation at the State Level. For more information, visit http://aceee.org/pubs/e031full.pdf.
Publication date: 05/17/2004