Efficiency industry puts up record numbers

In 2005, CEE member programs accounted for $35 billion in savings

We’re all a part of something big, and it’s getting bigger every day.

Big, as in billions of dollars. In 2006, efficiency program administrators in the U.S. invested more than $2.6 billion of public funds in energy-saving projects. That’s an increase of 13 percent over 2005.

Virtually all of these programs were run by CEE members. The exact numbers are detailed in CEE’s recent report, U.S. Energy-Efficiency Programs, a $2.6 Billion Industry.

CEE members accounted for 90 percent of the publicly-funded electric programs and 99 percent of the gas programs.

The report also indicates that the money was spent wisely. Although a precise measurement of cost-effectiveness is not possible, CEE member programs are making a major impact on energy consumption and utility bills.

Member programs resulted in electricity savings of 47,384 GWh, more than 1 percent of all U.S. electric consumption in 2005. The average retail value of these electric energy savings totaled $35.2 billion.

In 2005, CEE member gas programs resulted in gas savings of 161 million therms. Gas programs are just beginning to grow – yet they saved an amount equal to almost one-tenth of one percent of all U.S. natural gas consumption in 2005. The average retail value of these gas savings totaled $212.3 million.

Not coincidentally, CEE membership is also growing. The number of CEE members has more than doubled in the last 10 years, expanding to the South, Southwest and major parts of Canada. In the Southeast, programs are sprouting up and interest in CEE – once non-existent – is showing signs of life.

At CEE program meetings, attendance, by energy-efficiency organizations and key industry stakeholders, continues to grow by leaps and bounds. More than 140 people attended the January meeting in Long Beach, Calif., making it the largest CEE program meeting ever.

Credibility, partnerships, savings
CEE's report gives efficiency program administrators a vehicle to present their combined significance, reach and opportunity as a North American industry. This invites other industries to build meaningful industry-to-industry partnerships that result in increasing savings.

CEE has committed to collect and publish this information on an annual basis. In 2007, it is hoped that data from Canadian programs can also be included.

The collection and compilation of this budget and impact information, in itself, is a significant achievement. Prior to 2005, no current-year estimates of the funding for U.S. energy-efficiency programs had been published. Estimates of the aggregated impacts of CEE members' programs were also not collected or reported.

EIA data
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) also collects and publishes energy-efficiency program data. Although CEE bases its data collection request on EIA's form EIA-861, the CEE information differs from the EIA data in the following ways:

• CEE budget data for the current year are published on our Web site in fall of that year. At the same time, impacts data are published for the previous year.

• CEE works with the staff of each reporting organization to ensure that the data supplied are categorized in ways consistent with other reporting organizations.

• All CEE budget data are fully referenced with sources and dates of contact. Footnotes highlight any remaininginconsistencies in the way particular states aggregate and report data.

• CEE reports impacts data for its members only. Thus, the budget and impacts data cannot be used together to compare cost-effectiveness of programs across states.

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