112 million megawatt-hours of electricity saved, and counting

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A new report suggests U.S. utility customers saved enough electricity in 2010 to power 10 million homes, justifying the $4.8 billion spent on energy-efficiency measures.

What could be the potential impact on the corporate world of President Barack Obama’s $4 billion energy-efficiency mandate in late 2011 (ala the Better Buildings Challenge)? For a hint, you should consider the results of research released this week by the Institute for Electric Efficiency. The amount in the headline represents just one single year of savings.

The organization reports that the United States saved enough electricity in 2010 through efficiency measures to power about 10 million homes, approximately 112 million megawatt-hours worth of electricity. That was just one year, of course. What’s more, ratepayers in the United States used about 20 percent less electricity in 2010 than they did in 2009, according to the IEE ’s report, “Summary of Ratepayer-Funded Electric Efficiency Impacts, Budgets and Expenditures.”

These savings didn’t come for free. During the year considered (2010), the industry spent about $4.8 billion on efficiency measures, which was an increase of 28 percent over 2009. Electric utilities were responsible for about 88 percent of the ratepayer-funded initiatives during that timeframe. There was even more activity during 2011, IEE reports.

“Over the past four years since 2007, savings impacts have grown 80 percent, justifying the ramp-up of investment in efficiency that’s also occurred over this time period,” said Ed Wisniewski, executive director of the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, which is a non-profit organization focused on advocating energy-efficiency technologies and measures. “This scale affords a unique opportunity to address the challenges ahead and reap the tremendous savings that are still available cost-effectively.”

On a region-by-region basis, the Midwest reported the largest increase in energy efficiency savings between 2009 and 2010 (with savings of 38.9 percent). The Northeast followed close behind with 38.5 percent. The South had savings of 19.8 percent between those two years, while the West had savings of 5.3 percent.

The IEEE reports that 37 states increased their budgets for energy efficiency during 2011, compared with 2010. The average increase was a rather healthy 25 percent.

Even if renewable energy investment support continues to stall under the shifting political climate, energy efficiency programs continue to show real results — because they make good business sense not just to the utility companies that are embracing them but to the consumers that benefit from them. How energizing.

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/business-brains/112-million-megawatt-hours-of-electricity-saved-and-counting/21129