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Efficiency Resource Standards — The Next Big Bang for Energy Policy

An Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) could save as much energy as improving U.S. vehicles’ fuel economy to 40 mpg, according to a report issued today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The report, Energy Efficiency Resource Standards: Experience and Recommendations, profiles energy efficiency resource standard policies in ten states and four European countries, and concludes that implementation of similar policies at the federal or state level could reduce nationwide energy use by nearly 5% in 2020 and save consumers and businesses about $170 billion from efficiency measures implemented over the 2007-2020 period. “An EERS is perhaps the single most effective energy efficiency policy the federal government could adopt today,” said ACEEE Executive Director Steven Nadel, lead author of the report. “To put these energy savings in perspective, they are about triple the energy efficiency savings of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that was signed into law last summer.” An Energy Efficiency Resource Standard, according to the report, consists of electric and/or gas energy savings targets for utilities, with flexibility to achieve the target through a market-based trading system. EERS targets are achieved through end-user energy-saving improvements, aided and documented by utilities or other program operators. […]

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