States often adopt energy efficiency programs designed to reduce energy use - conservation - by government or public facilities, homes and businesses or by funding advanced technologies that require less energy; states are also providing research funding to develop and incentives to deploy renewable energy resources, including solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal and biomass. Often cleaner compared to traditional fossil fuels, energy efficiency and renewable energy resources also emit fewer criteria air pollutants and less greenhouse gas emissions and advanced energy programs are increasingly being touted by governors as beneficial to states by: reducing dependence on imported oil, creating jobs, revitalizing state natural resource and economic markets.

Focus of Center Activities

The Center is actively evaluating energy challenges and disseminating information on the most effective policy tools and best practices. Center staff is in the early stages of convening state policymakers to examine specific energy efficiency and renewable energy topics of shared concern among the states. The recent volatility of energy prices and the impact of these prices on a state's economy and security only exacerbate the need to develop traditional and new domestic resources of energy.