Massachusetts has been named the #1 State for Energy Efficiency three years running by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Environment Northeast explains how the state’s energy efficiency program works and shows the benefits it produces.
The Green Communities Act requires the state’s electric and natural gas distribution utilities as the energy efficiency program administrators to procure “all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective or less expensive than supply.”
This all-cost-effective energy efficiency mandate helps drive energy efficiency investments in the state, requiring the utilities to treat energy efficiency as a “first fuel” and invest in all cost-effective efficiency resources that are cheaper than additional electric or natural gas supply. The act also provides for funding of all-cost-effective energy efficiency, subject to the approval of the Department of Public Utilities. Within this framework, the program administrators develop and implement statewide three-year energy efficiency plans.
The Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC), a stakeholder board established by the Green Communities Act, works collaboratively with the program administrators to guide the development and monitor the implementation of the statewide three-year energy efficiency plans. The EEAC brings together a diverse group of energy efficiency stakeholders, including representatives of various state agencies as well consumer, business, and environmental interests. The first three-year plan period covered 2010-2012, and the state is currently mid-way through the second three-year plan (2013-2015).
