Energy Conservation in South Could Save Billions, Create Jobs
April 14, 2010
DURHAM, NC – April 14, 2010 – Energy-efficiency measures in thesouthern U.S. could save consumers $41 billion on their energy bills,open 380,000 new jobs, and save 8.6 billion gallons of water by 2020,according to a new study from the Nicholas Institute for EnvironmentalPolicy Solutions at Duke University and the Georgia Institute ofTechnology. The study concludes that investing $200 billion in energyefficiency programs by 2030 could return $448 billion in savings.
The researchers modeled how implementation of nine policies across theresidential, commercial and industrial sectors might play out over 20years in the District of Columbia and 16 southern states.
“We looked at how these policies might interact, not just singleprograms, said Etan Gumerman of the Nicholas Institute and co-leadresearcher of the study. The interplay between policies compounds thesavings. And it’s all cost-effective. On average, each dollar investedin energy efficiency over the next 20 years will reap $2.25 inbenefits.”
Policies considered by the study, Energy Efficiency in the South,include new appliance standards, incentives for retrofitting andweatherization, upgrades to utility plants and process improvements.
The South is rich terrain for efficiency improvements. Without them, theregion might expect 15 percent growth in energy demand by 2030.Thirty-six percent of Americans live in the study region. The regionconsumes an outsized portion of American energy, 44 percent, but it alsosupplies 48 percent of the nation’s power.
A combination of factors has left this disproportionate usage unexploredby policymakers keen on energy efficiency. The South historically haslow electricity rates, which encourage consumption. Energy-efficientproducts have a lower market penetration than elsewhere in the U.S. Andthese states spend less per capita on efficiency programs than thenational average.
The researchers generated a “business as usual” scenario, without anypolicies, and compared it with scenarios that included specific sets ofenergy-efficiency investments, to capture the cost savings.
The study, released Monday, concludes that aggressive energy efficiencyinitiatives would:
* Generate new jobs, cut utility bills and sustain economic growth. Overall utility bills would be reduced by $41 billion a year in 2020and $71 billion in 2030; the average residential electricity bills woulddecline by $26 per month in 2020 and $50 per month in 2030; electricityrate increases would be moderated; and 380,000 new jobs would becreated by 2020 (annual job growth increases to 520,000 new jobs in2030). The region’s economy is anticipated to grow by $1.23 billion in2020 and $2.12 billion in 2030.
* Reduce the need for new power plants. Almost 25 gigawatts of olderpower plants could be retired and the construction of up to 50gigawatts of new plants (equal to the amount of electricity produced by100 power plants) could be avoided.
* Result in substantial water conservation. The reduction in powerplant capacity would save southern regions of the North AmericanElectrical Reliability Corporation 8.6 billion gallons of fresh water in2020 and 20.1 billion gallons in 2030.
“An aggressive commitment to energy efficiency could be an economicwindfall for the South,” said Dr. Marilyn Brown of the Georgia Instituteof Technology and co-lead researcher of the study. “Such a shift wouldlower energy bills for cash-strapped consumers and businesses and createmore new jobs for Southern workers.”
Profiles of the report’s results for each state are available at: www.seealliance.org/programs/research.php.
“Energy Efficiency in the South” is available on the Southeast EnergyEfficiency Alliance (SEEA) website: www.seealliance.org/programs/research.php.State profiles are also available through SEEA, a nonprofitorganization that promotes energy efficiency in the Southeast. Thisproject is funded with support from the Energy Foundation (www.ef.org), theKresge Foundation (www.kresge.org)and the Turner Foundation (www.turnerfoundation.org).
