![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick Links
- The National Action Plan Fact Sheet (PDF) (4 pp., 205K, About PDF)
- The National Action Plan Consumer Fact Sheet (PDF) (4 pp., 220KB, About PDF)
- What Is the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency?
- What Is Energy Efficiency?
- Why Is Energy Efficiency Important?
- What Does the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency Cover?
- Why Is an Action Plan Needed?
- What Are States and Utilities Doing Now to Reduce Energy?
- As a Customer, Why Do I Want My Utility or State to Offer Energy Efficiency Programs? Won’t It Just Raise My Rates?
- If I Participate in an Energy Efficiency Program, Will I Need to Wear an Extra Sweater in the Winter and Turn Off Extra Lights?
- How Much Money Could Americans Save if Utilities Begin Using Energy Efficiency?
- Who Is Leading the Action Plan?
- What Does the Leadership Group Do?
- What Are the Leadership Group’s Recommendations for Energy Efficiency?
- What Are Leadership Group Members and Other Parties Promising To Do as Part of the Action Plan?
- How Did the National Action Plan Get Started and How Were Members of the Leadership Group Chosen?
- How Can Other Utilities, Regulators, and Stakeholders Join in the Action Plan?
- How Can the Leadership Group Help Others Promote Energy Efficiency?
- Where Can I Go for More Information on the Action Plan?
What Is the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency?
The National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency is a broad effort to remove barriers that prevent states and natural gas and electric companies from doing more to help customers save energy through energy efficiency programs and other efforts. Across the country, Americans could save hundreds of billions of dollars by doing more to save energy. By helping businesses, governments, and households use up-to-date technologies and practices, states and energy companies can help reduce energy bills by 10 to 30 percent. Many energy efficiency programs can cost less than building new infrastructure that is needed to meet the growing U.S. energy consumption.
What Is Energy Efficiency?
When products, equipment, or processes are “energy efficient,” they use less energy than traditional approaches that do the same work. It can include appliances, buildings, and businesses, which use energy to cool or cook food, to provide comfort and shelter, and to produce goods and services. Energy efficiency reduces the electricity and gas used in everyday life. In recent years, energy-efficient equipment and technologies have improved significantly. Everything from computers, to windows, to refrigerators, to manufacturing processes has been redesigned to use less energy, reducing use of electricity and natural gas.
Why Is Energy Efficiency Important?
There are many benefits to using less energy. First of all, using less energy saves money. Buying up-to-date technologies and using up-to-date practices can save 10 to 30 percent of many businesses’, governments’, and households’ energy bills. Across the country, Americans could save hundreds of billions of dollars by using more energy-efficient equipment and technologies. By reducing the amount of energy needed to produce the same outcome or service, energy efficiency could also help prevent or delay the need for building dozens of new power plants and other infrastructure.
Second, energy efficiency helps the local economy. Instead of importing natural gas and electricity from outside of your community, domestic and local companies can provide energy efficiency services and equipment. Also, energy efficiency improvements can provide greater comfort and increase the amount of money that your home or business is worth.
Third, energy efficiency is good for the environment. Power plants creating electricity and our own home’s and businesses’ use of natural gas cause pollution in the air and emissions of greenhouse gases that can contribute to the risks of global climate change. More than half of all greenhouse gases in the air come from power plants and the use of natural gas. By using less energy, you help fight global climate change. You also reduce the kinds of air pollutants that are unhealthy to breathe. Energy efficiency also reduces the amount of water power plants and factories need to use.
What Does the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency Cover?
The Action Plan focuses on gas and electric companies, known as “utilities,” as well as state efforts to provide energy efficiency programs. States and natural gas and electricity utilities, along with the government agencies that regulate them, can play an important role in offering energy efficiency options to customers and communities. In order for these programs to be successful, utilities, regulators, and other organizations interested in energy efficiency must work together.
The Action Plan offers recommendations for states' and utilities' decision-makers to follow. Many are already making commitments to follow these recommendations and increase their energy efficiency efforts so customers can save money on their energy bills.
Why Is an Action Plan Needed?
At work and at home, people keep using equipment and technologies that require a lot of energy. In fact, if we continue doing what we’re doing, this country will use 20 to 50 percent more energy in 2025 than we use today. At the same time, the price of energy, such as electricity, natural gas, heating oil, and other fuels, keeps going up. The Action Plan will encourage states, utilities, utility regulators, and partner organizations to encourage the use of more energy-efficient products, equipment, technologies, and processes for homes, buildings, and factories across the United States.
What Are States and Utilities Doing Now to Reduce Energy?
Some gas and electric utilities and state organizations currently offer energy efficiency programs to help customers use less energy and lower their energy bills. For example, through an energy efficiency program, a representative from an energy company can look around your home and tell you how you can save energy through an “energy audit.” The energy companies also teach people and organizations how to save energy. They provide rebates after you’ve purchased energy-efficient product and services. They can lend you money to buy these types of products and services. Even more utilities are exploring energy efficiency programs as a successful part of their business to help people and organizations save energy because then the utilities don’t have to spend the money to find new sources of energy or build new power plants.
As a Customer, Why Do I Want My Utility or State to Offer Energy Efficiency Programs? Won’t It Just Raise My Rates?
While your rate might go up a very small amount, you will use less energy and pay less on your overall bill as you take advantage of programs. U.S. energy bills currently average about $1,900 each year and are expected to increase. At the same time energy efficiency programs might add 0.03 to 3 percent to the average electricity rates, customers who are participating in the energy efficiency programs can save 10 to 20 percent off their energy bills. Further, if a utility company does not have to buy more energy or build new power plants or gas pipelines due to energy efficiency programs, the rates might be lower—even for people who are not participating in the programs.
If I Participate in an Energy Efficiency Program, Will I Need to Wear an Extra Sweater in the Winter and Turn Off Extra Lights?
The National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency does not focus on reducing the heat so much that you have to wear a sweater in the house or turning off extra lights. Those types of actions are known as “energy conservation” and can reduce your energy bill as well. The Action Plan seeks to provide more customers with the information, tools, and resources they need to become more energy efficient. For example, an old computer might use a lot of energy. A new computer that has been redesigned and improved might use less energy. But both computers work the same way, so you don’t notice a difference when you are using them. If you are using an energy-efficient furnace or water heater, you won’t even notice the difference; the equipment will still provide heat in your home and hot water, but will do it using less energy.
How Much Money Could Americans Save if Utilities Begin Using Energy Efficiency?
If utilities and states offered comprehensive energy efficiency programs, Americans could save over $500 billion in net savings over 25 years and result in annual emission reductions equivalent to those from 90 million vehicles. Of course, some parts of the country will save more, and others will save less.
Who Is Leading the Action Plan?
The Action Plan is led by a Leadership Group. The Leadership Group includes more than 60 diverse organizations, including gas and electric utilities, utility regulators, state agencies, energy users, consumer advocates, energy efficiency organizations, and others. In addition, 24 other associations and groups, known as “observers,” have provided input to the Action Plan. See a full list of Leadership Group members and observers.
The co-chairs of the Leadership Group are Marsha Smith, Commissioner, Idaho Public Utilities Commission and President-Elect, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners; and James Rogers, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Duke Energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are the two agencies that are supporting the work of the Leadership Group and the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency.
What Does the Leadership Group Do?
Since fall 2005, the Leadership Group and observers have attended meetings, offered advice, and developed the Action Plan. Through this process, Leadership Group members have developed five recommendations to encourage energy efficiency across the nation. The Leadership Group and observers have also decided to work within their own organizations to help encourage energy efficiency.
What Are the Leadership Group’s Recommendations for Energy Efficiency?
Based on the policies, practices, and efforts of many organizations across the country, the Leadership Group offers the following recommendations:
- Recognize energy efficiency as a high-priority energy resource,
- Make a strong, long-term commitment to implement cost-effective energy efficiency as a resource,
- Broadly communicate the benefits of and opportunities for energy efficiency,
- Promote sufficient, timely, and stable program funding to deliver energy efficiency where cost-effective,
- Modify policies that align utility incentives with the delivery of cost-effective energy efficiency and modify rate making practices to promote energy efficiency investments.
What Are Leadership Group Members and Other Parties Promising To Do as Part of the Action Plan?
The Leadership Group and other parties have committed to work within their organizations to encourage energy efficiency. Examples of these commitments include:
- Establishing and supporting state-level collaborative processes to explore how best to increase investment in energy efficiency
- Additional money to be spent on energy efficiency programs
- Start new and/or expand existing energy efficiency programs
- Exploring policies and practices to align utility incentives with the delivery of cost-effective energy efficiency
- Advancing efforts to include energy efficiency on a consistent and comparable basis with supply-side resources in future resource planning activities
- Meeting aggressive energy savings goals
- Proactively educating stakeholders on the benefits of and opportunities for energy efficiency
- Following through on the recommendations in the National Action Plan.
How Did the National Action Plan Get Started and How Were Members of the Leadership Group Chosen?
Across the nation, utilities, regulators, and others have been showing more and more interest in energy efficiency. Everyone is interested in energy efficiency for different reasons, such as trying to reduce energy prices, protecting the environment, and providing programs that customers want. The U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invited many of these people to join the Leadership Group. The people and organizations that were invited have been successful in promoting and adopting energy efficiency in the past, and they each provide different ideas and represent different regions of the country.
How Can Other Utilities, Regulators, and Stakeholders Join in the Action Plan?
The National Action Plan offers a set of recommendations for all utilities, regulators, and other interested organizations in the United States. The Leadership Group encourages these groups to make their own commitments to energy efficiency. Other organizations can include their commitments to energy efficiency as part of the National Action Plan; please contact Katrina Pielli (pielli.katrina@epa.gov) of EPA at (202) 343-9610 or Larry Mansueti of DOE at (202) 586-2588.
How Can the Leadership Group Help Others Promote Energy Efficiency?
To assist the Leadership Group and others in promoting and using energy efficiency, the group is making a number of documents available, including:
- National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency Report. This report includes the Action Plan recommendations and details the key barriers to energy efficiency in utility rate making and revenue requirements, energy resource planning processes, rate design, and energy efficiency program best practices. The report also reviews and presents a variety of policy and program solutions that have been used to overcome these barriers.
- Vision for 2025. This living document provides a framework to advance discussions on how to fully implement the five Action Plan recommendations. The Vision establishes an aspirational goal to achieve all cost-effective energy efficiency by 2025, presents ten implementation goals, describes what 2025 might look like if the Vision is achieved, and offers an initial strawman approach for measuring progress.
- Guidebooks. Four how-to guidebooks available to assist in the implementation of the Action Plan recommendations:
- Model Energy Efficiency Program Impact Evaluation Guide
- Guide to Resource Planning with Energy Efficiency
- Guide for Conducting Energy Efficiency Potential Studies
- Aligning Utility Incentives with Energy Efficiency Investment
- Sector Collaborative on Energy Efficiency. This collaborative engages utilities and end-users to help them capture the benefits of energy efficiency and pursue new commitments and partnerships.
- Regional Implementation Meetings. During 2007, regional meetings were held to bring together key stakeholders across the country and support regional implementation of the Action Plan recommendations.
- Energy Efficiency Benefits Calculator. This calculator provides information about the cost savings that result from using different energy efficiency policies and activities. It can be changed to estimate the savings that result with a variety of different utility types, policies, and energy use situations.
- Outreach and Resource Materials. A clean energy resource database, communications kit, and educational presentations help stakeholders pursue the recommendations of the Action Plan. In addition, two fact sheets address consumer benefits of energy efficiency programs and energy efficiency in building codes.
Where Can I Go for More Information on the Action Plan?
Information on the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency can be found at www.epa.gov/eeactionplan or by contacting Stacy Angel (angel.stacy@epa.gov) of EPA at (202) 343-9606 or Larry Mansueti (lawrence.mansueti@hq.doe.gov) of DOE at (202) 586-2588.