EE Programs Break $6 Billion

Energy Efficiency Program Budgets Leap 35% in 2009

Boston, MA—Budgets for ratepayer funded energy efficiency programs in the United States and Canada topped a record six billion dollars for 2009, illustrating the ongoing and growing support for energy savings and environmental benefits at the state and provincial level. Ratepayer funding increased 35% over the $4.5 billion committed in 2008. Not including onetime U.S. stimulus funding directed to energy efficiency, U.S. budgets totaled $5.3 billion, doubling from $2.6 billion in 2006. Eight Canadian provinces together reached budgets of $800 million, a small reduction from 2008, but showing growth from the 2007 total of $600 million.

Gas programs demonstrated the most rapid expansion, soaring 274 percent since 2006 and increasing nearly 80 percent over 2008 in the United States. Canadian gas programs rose 25 percent on top of a 39 percent rise in 2008. CEE members administer 89 percent of U.S. gas budgets and 74 percent of Canadian budgets.

Electric budgets in the United States went from a 21 percent increase in 2008 over 2007 to a whopping 37 percent in 2009 over 2008. CEE members administer 88 percent of U.S. electric budgets reported; Canadian members administer 94 percent. The largest gains were from southeast and south central states, regions that grew more than 76 percent.

CEE Members Delivered Record 2008 Carbon and E-Savings

CEE members estimate that in 2008 their programs showed savings of 93,000 GWh of electricity and more than 343 million therms of gas, avoiding more than 55 million metric tons of CO₂. The carbon dioxide emissions avoided by CEE member efforts in 2008 are equivalent to the annual emissions from nearly 12 coal-fired power plants—more than two percent of the output of all coal-fired power plants in the United States in 2005. Based on the average retail price of electricity and gas in 2008, the combined utility bill savings for consumers delivered by CEE member programs in that year climbed to more than $8.4 billion USD.

Expenditure Data Collected for 2008

CEE has historically collected program budgets to provide a snapshot in time of what programs are planning to spend in the current year. As a result of member interest, CEE has also begun collecting prior year expenditures to better understand program spending. In 2008, U.S. and Canadian Gas and Electric programs spent $4.5 billion on energy efficiency, commensurate with the amount budgeted. 

Data Collection Broadens

Data were collected from 46 states, up from 37 in 2008, and from eight provinces. Working with the American Gas Association and the Institute for Electric Efficiency for the first time, CEE has completed collection of budget and impact data from ratepayer funded energy efficiency programs and plans to make detailed analysis of the data along with our Annual Industry Report available early in 2010. New this year is the collection of expenditure data for 2008, along with tables of program budget and expenditure data at the organization as well as state level.

Major contributors to this year’s data collection effort were the American Gas Association and the Institute for Electric Efficiency. Joining forces with these organizations eliminated duplication of effort by all three organizations, reduced the reporting burden for respondents, and enlarged the pool threefold. CEE, with the collaboration of AGA and IEE, now provides the most current and most comprehensive data available to the energy efficiency program industry.