Mass. again comes in 2nd on energy efficiency efforts
Scorecard says state’s utility customers face big assessments
FOR THE SECOND year in a row, Massachusetts came in second behind California on a national scorecard of energy efficiency efforts.
Massachusetts earned 44.5 out of a possible 50 points, coming in 2.5 points behind California and 5 points ahead of third place New York. Maine was the most improved state on this year’s list, moving up 11 positions to take the fifth spot in the rankings with 35.5 points, just behind Vermont and two spots ahead of Rhode Island.
South Carolina and Ohio fared poorly in the latest scorecard, falling to the 49th and 44th places, respectively. Both states were docked points for allowing large utility customers to opt out of energy efficiency programs. Ohio’s energy efficiency efforts also suffered because the state’s utilities were not reimbursed for energy efficiency programs, according to the scorecard.
The 2021 scorecard, developed by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, attempts to gauge how states are doing in reducing energy consumption by comparing them in six categories – utility and/or public energy efficiency programs, transportation policies, building energy efficiency policies, state government initiatives, industrial policies, and appliance efficiency standards.
In the transportation sector, states were awarded a point for adopting either a statewide vehicle miles traveled target or specific transportation-specific greenhouse gas reduction target. Massachusetts, which has set a transportation-specific emissions target, was one of nine states to receive a point.
Massachusetts, however, did not receive a point or a half a point for actually reducing vehicle miles traveled over the last decade. Only New York and the District of Columbia received the full point.
“Reducing VMT growth is key to managing transportation energy use, and several states have taken on this challenge by setting VMT reduction targets,” according to the scorecard.
The scorecard for the first time did not take into account in its scoring methodology how much a state’s utilities are spending on electricity energy efficiency programs, focusing instead on incremental energy savings.
The scorecard did continue to track spending, however, and Massachusetts ranked third in terms of spending as a percent of total electricity revenues.
Nationwide, $5.96 billion was spent on electricity energy efficiency programs in 2021. The median amount spent per state was $64.2 million, or 1.8 percent of total electricity revenues.
Massachusetts spent $661.3 million, or 6.8 percent of statewide electricity revenues. Only California spent more — $745 million – but that total represented only 1.5 percent of its statewide electricity revenues.
