A report released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) shows that energy efficiency advances can avoid the billions of dollars on proposed high-polluting power plants in Texas.
In the face of conclusive evidence of global warming and the pollution caused by coal-fired plants, 19 new coal plants have been recently proposed in Texas, costing an estimated $10 billion, by the TXU Corp.
The report concludes that Texas can meet its growing energy needs at lower cost, and with significantly less pollution by using new incentives for businesses and consumers in the state, and requiring utility companies to invest in cost-effective energy savings before the spend money on expensive new plants. Together, the report says these strategies would yield nearly $50 billion in savings and other economic benefits to Texas over the next 15 years with an investment of $11 billion - a dividend of more than four to one.
Each dollar in energy savings initiatives would generate $4.40 in savings, according to the study, which was prepared for the NRDC and the investor coalition Ceres by researchers at Optimal Energy, an energy efficiency consulting firm. Altogether, the energy saving programs could reduce peak energy demand in Texas by more than 18,500 megawatts - equivalent to the output of 20 large power plants - due to dramatic reductions in electricity use. The report findings are based in part on successful energy efficiency initiatives already in place in Austin and other parts of the country.
"The cheapest energy is energy you don’t have to produce and buy in the first place," said Philip Mosenthal, founding partner of Optimal Energy and the report’s lead author. "Numerous technologies exist to dramatically reduce homeowner and business energy use economically, while providing greater comfort and productivity. Texas has an opportunity to become a leader in clean energy development that will ensure its energy system reliability while saving billions of dollars, dramatically reducing global warming emissions, and creating energy efficiency jobs and strengthening local economies."
The report, Power to Save: An Alternative Path to Meet Electric Needs in Texas, shows that instead of investing $11 billion for dirty coal plants, it would be invested in proven programs and policies focused on efficient appliances, office equipment and building codes and utility incentives, resulting in $49 billion in economic benefits to the Texas economy – a net economic benefit of $38 billion.
It would also eliminate over 80% of forecasted growth in electricity demand, which ERCOT now projects will grow 2.3 percent a year on average through 2020 without efficiency efforts.
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