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Increasingly, utilities are looking to offer energy efficiency programs to meet regulatory obligations, reduce peak demand, and contribute to environmental protection. Voluntary partnerships are a key option for meeting these goals because energy efficiency delivers an impressive value proposition to both consumers and businesses. ENERGY STAR, the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency recognized by more than 83% of American households, provides a powerful platform for utilities implementing demand side management programs.

Residential buildings consume approximately 21% of the energy used in the United States each year. Therefore, working with the residential new construction market to ensure that homes are built to rigorous energy efficiency standards is an important opportunity to maximize end-use efficiency and avoid or postpone the construction of costly new power generation facilities.

ENERGY STAR certified homes are designed and constructed to be significantly more energy efficient than those built to code while improving affordability, comfort, quality, and durability. As a result, an ENERGY STAR for Homes program is an opportunity for long-term peak and energy demand savings that can stand-alone or complement other residential energy efficiency initiatives.