BOSTON — The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) released its 12th annual Industry Report, showing growth in 2016 energy efficiency and demand response investment.
“Amid the uncertainty in federal investment, this report indicates that demand side management (DSM) investment at the state and program level continues strong with a modest uptick in 2016 expenditures and 2017 budgets,” said Ed Wisniewski, executive director CEE.
Total expenditures from all funding sources on gas and electric DSM programs in 2016 rose 2 percent over 2015, reaching $8.8 billion. Highlights of the report include:
- Ratepayers contributed $8.5 billion of the $8.8 billion total. Other sources of funding included wholesale capacity market revenues, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and the Weatherization Assistance Program;
- CEE members directed 79 percent of expenditures (nearly $7 billion from all sources) and 78 percent of expenditures from ratepayer funds (approximately $6.6 billion);
- Electric efficiency programs in the U.S. and Canada spent $7.4 billion, and gas programs spent $1.4 billion to reduce energy use;
- 2017 DSM program budgets increased 7 percent compared to 2016, reversing a trend of declines seen over the past two survey years and suggesting continued high expenditures; and
- In 2017, U.S. and Canadian administrators reported that their demand response programs reduced demand by 41,468 MW in 2016, with programs in the South and West accounting for the majority of these savings at 57 and 29 percent, respectively.
Continuing investments in energy efficiency and demand response are a testament to the attractiveness of DSM as a clean energy resource with many social and utility benefits.
Publication date: 4/16/2018
