Energy efficiency

The clean energy economy, including renewable power generation and building design and retrofits around energy efficiency, is bigger now than fossil fuel industries in the Midwest.

A case study of rural energy-efficiency programs in California. Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas and Vermont concludes that such initiatives have far greater potential than commonly acknowledged. “Utilities and implementers may lack the technical, financial, or staff resources to deliver high-quality efficiency programs to rural customers,” write the authors. “However, the programs highlighted in this report show that these challenges are surmountable and demonstrate the value of energy efficiency to rural economies.”

New research shows that nine eastern states have gained $1.4 billion in economic benefits over the past three years from an air pollution “cap-and-trade” policy that requires utility companies to pay for emissions permits. The program wasn’t designed as an economic-development initiative, but has become one nonetheless: “The biggest payoff came in investments in energy efficiency programs, which have led to more businesses and jobs in activities such as energy audits and installing energy-efficiency equipment.”