State and local governments across the U.S. are focused on how clean energy can help them meet a variety of climate, energy, environmental, and economic development goals. An early step for most energy efficiency planning efforts involves identifying and quantifying savings opportunities, followed by understanding how to access this potential.
The Energy Department offers numerous resources that show economic energy efficiency potential nationally and by state, along with information that speaks to diverse audiences about the many benefits from energy efficiency, and technical resources to understand the energy and carbon savings from efficiency. These resources include:
Economic energy efficiency potential:
- Catalog of state-level energy efficiency potential studies
Compilation of approximately 80 energy efficiency potential studies published by states, utilities, and non-governmental organizations since 2007 that identify potential electricity savings available with their jurisdictions.
- Estimates of National Electricity and Carbon Savings Potential in 2030
The Energy Department's estimates of electricity and carbon savings available in 2030 from six types of energy efficiency opportunities and framed with low and high scenarios.
Information that speaks to diverse audiences about energy efficiency opportunities and benefits:
- SEE Action's Guide for States: Energy Efficiency as a Least-Cost Strategy to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollution, and Meet Energy Needs in the Power Sector
A practical document including accessible information on common energy efficiency strategies, resources to understand the range of expected savings from energy efficiency, common protocols for documenting savings, and more.
- Presentations: How energy efficiency programs can support state climate and energy planning
At-a-glance look at key considerations for including energy efficiency strategies in state planning, including current activity at the national and state levels, supportive state and local policies, best practices, energy savings examples and potential, cost-effectiveness, and DOE support.
- Overview presentation: How energy efficiency programs can support state climate and energy planning
- Presentation: How building energy codes can support state climate and energy planning
- Presentation: How city-led energy efficiency programs can support state climate and energy planning
- Presentation: How combined heat and power can support state climate and energy planning
- Presentation: How energy savings performance contracting can support state climate and energy planning
- Presentation: How industrial energy efficiency can support state climate and energy planning
- Presentation: How ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs can support state climate and energy planning
Technical resources to understand the energy and carbon savings from efficiency
- SEE Action Evaluation, Measurement, and Verification (EM&V) Portal
A resource compendium for energy efficiency program administrators and project managers. Resources focus on tools and approaches that can be applied nationwide, address EM&V consistency, and are widely recognized. - Energy Policy and Systems Analysis Presentation: Energy Modeling 101
Covers the basics of power sector capacity expansion modeling and briefly touches on other types of modeling and analytical tools available to provide data on the electric power system, including energy efficiency.
Technical assistance
- Presentation: Accessing DOE's Many Energy Efficiency Resources and Technical Assistance
Brief synopsis of current DOE programs and resources (documents, tools) by sector that can support program administrators and planners interested in pursuing energy efficiency. - State, Local, and Tribal Technical Assistance Gateway
Provides an access point to DOE's technical assistance and cooperative activities with state, local, and tribal officials.
Estimates of National Electricity and Carbon Savings Potential in 2030
NOTE: Pathways may include overlapping savings, so estimates are NOT additive.
| Savings Pathway | Ballpark Achievable Potential Calculations Based on Pathway-Specific Low-to-High Scenarios | Low Estimate | High Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ratepayer-Funded Efficiency Programs | Total estimated savings in 2030 from reduced electricity load growth rates due to ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs achieving annual incremental savings of 1.1–1.5% from 2012 baseline.1 | 645 million MWh
368 million short tons CO2 |
895 million MWh
510 million short tons CO2 |
| Building Energy Codes | Total estimated savings in 2030 from future editions of the residential IECC and commercial standard 90.1 continuing to see similar improvements in energy consumption as past editions, states continuing to update their codes based on historic trends, and states achieving compliance rates of 70-90%.2 |
140 million MWh 80 million short tons CO2 |
170 million MWh 97 million short tons CO2 |
| Industrial Efficiency | Total estimated savings in 2030 from 50 - 75% of industrial plants achieving double business as usual annual energy intensity improvements relative to AEO forecasted baseline.3 |
115 million MWh 66 million short tons CO2 |
175 million MWh 100 million short tons CO2 |
| Combined Heat and Power | Total estimated savings in 2030 from completing 30 - 45% of economical (less than 10 year payback) CHP projects smaller than 100 MW.4 |
75 million MWh 43 million short tons CO2 |
115 million MWh 66 million short tons CO2 |
| City-Led Energy Efficiency Efforts | Total estimated savings in 2030 from 10 - 20% savings in city-wide (municipal, residential, commercial, and industrial) electricity consumption for the largest 50 U.S. cities.6 | 55 million MWh
31 million short tons CO2 |
101 million MWh 63 million short tons CO2 |
| Energy Savings Performance Contracting | Total estimated savings in 2030 based on 0 - 8% annual growth rates in volume of ESCO projects from 2012 baseline.5 |
45 million MWh 26 million short tons CO2 |
90 million MWh
51 million short tons CO2 |
Estimates extrapolated from the following data sources:
1 LBNL, 2013, The Future of Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs in the U.S.
2DOE determinations and supporting analysis and PNNL Codes Impact Analysis
3EIA 2015 AEO, Tables 25-35
4 American Gas Association, 2013, The Opportunity for CHP in the United States
5 LBNL, 2015, Estimating customer electricity and fuel savings from projects installed by the US ESCO industry and LBNL, 2014, A method to estimate the size and remaining market potential of the U.S. ESCO industry
6 ACEEE, 2015, City Energy Efficiency Scorecard Table C6
