WASHINGTON—Governors are advancing several new state policy innovations to reduce energy consumption and increase the amount of energy produced from renewable sources, such as the wind or the sun, according to an issue brief released today by the National Governors Association (NGA).
Energy efficiency and renewable energy sources help governors address multiple objectives, including: diversifying their state’s energy portfolio, advancing economic development, lowering the costs of energy and meeting environmental objectives. However, efforts to advance energy efficiency and renewable energy face a variety of regulatory barriers and market shortcomings that result in untapped opportunities.
Ten Trends to Track: State Policy Innovations to Advance Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy and the accompanying white paper present governors with 10 recent policy innovations. The list includes actions that cover the following four approaches and focuses on measures that can be pursued despite the budgetary constraints that many states face:
- Redesigning utility incentives to invest in energy efficiency;
- Increasing consumer access to information and financing;
- Removing regulatory barriers to residential solar power; and
- Creating new ways to reduce the energy used in state buildings and fleets.
“A well-designed, comprehensive energy efficiency program can reduce energy bills, defer the construction of costly new power generation and reduce the environmental damage associated with using traditional fuels to generate electricity,” said Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee. “In an effort to provide utilities incentives to promote energy efficiency, states are beginning to create new business models and procedures to better align utility and ratepayer interests.”
To learn more, please visit www.nga.org/cms/center/eet.
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