There are striking regional differences when it comes to U.S. utilities and energy efficiency, and the Northeast comes out on top, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) first-ever scorecard of U.S. utilities. The 2017 Utility Energy Efficiency Scorecard identifies the best—and worst—performers on energy efficiency among the nation’s 51 largest electric utilities and highlights cutting-edge efforts.
In terms of individual utilities, topping the list are Eversource Massachusetts and National Grid Massachusetts, which both earned the same score. Rounding out the top five are Pacific Gas & Electric, Baltimore Gas & Electric, and Eversource Connecticut.
The scorecard was inspired by ACEEE’s need to determine which utilities are doing the best on energy efficiency programs and how others can improve. The top 10 show impressive commitment to efficiency through a wide range of long-term programs and policies. Both Eversource Massachusetts and National Grid Massachusetts earned 91% of total points, the highest on the scorecard. Both utilities achieved more than 3% savings as a percentage of their retail sales in 2015.
Based on 2015 data, ACEEE examined 18 metrics across three categories including quantitative savings and spending performance, program diversity and emerging areas, and efficiency-related regulatory issues.
Regional Findings
- Utilities in the Northeast, the highest-scoring region, earned, on average, 62% of total points, followed closely by those in the West, which earned 57%. The Northeast average is more than twice that of utilities in the Southeast, the lowest-scoring region, and nearly twice that of utilities in the mid-Atlantic and the Southeast.
- Five of the bottom 10 utilities are in the Southeast, and seven of the top 10 are in either the Northeast or the West.
- The top utilities are located in the top-performing states. Nine of the top 10 utilities are located in states that also break the top 10 in ACEEE’s State Scorecard.
The full report is available online.
