The Alliance to Save Energy leads its advocacy efforts with the policy principle of energy efficiency first, as a necessary strategy for developing bipartisan policy solutions to meet the nation’s future energy needs. By leading with energy efficiency first, policymakers right-size energy transition and expansion investments, including but not limited to production, generation, transmission, and distribution.
Over the last several decades, energy efficiency has been the workhorse of U.S. energy and climate policy, playing an outsized role in reducing carbon emissions; retaining affordability; achieving energy reliability, security, and independence; and developing jobs and the economy. To ensure that energy efficiency continues to deliver these benefits, the Alliance to Save Energy stood as a bipartisan leader, securing needed investments through the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including needed tax incentives, rebate programs, incentives to facilitate adoption of the latest energy codes, investments in rural and urban low-income and disadvantaged communities, and others.
However, IIJA and IRA investments are the beginning and not the end of what will be needed from energy efficiency if the U.S. is to successfully meet our energy and climate objectives. According to the IEA, reaching net zero by 2050 will require a global push to increase energy efficiency. The IEA also concludes that 40% of the emissions reductions required by the Paris Agreement can be achieved through energy efficiency alone.
As the Alliance to Save Energy leads with energy efficiency first in forwarding future policy development, we will continue to work with our members, allies, and others to demonstrate energy efficiency’s impactful value:
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Emission Reductions: Carbon emissions would have been 78% higher in 2021, but for energy efficiency investments made since 1980. (Energy Efficiency Impact Report)
- Affordability: Energy efficiency investments since 1980 have resulted in significant bill savings, equaling approximately $800 billion annually, through 2020. (Energy Efficiency Impact Report)
- Reliability, Security, and Independence: According to DOE, energy efficiency reduces the amount of electricity on the grid at one time, minimizing grid stress, thus preventing power disruptions; According to the IEA, “Energy efficiency is the single largest measure to avoid demand in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario;” The IEA also found that Because energy efficiency reduces overall demand, energy efficiency can reduce reliance on energy imports, thus playing a critical role in long-term and short-term energy security.
- Jobs and the Economy: Energy efficiency is the largest employer in the clean energy economy, representing 2,164,914 jobs in 2021, based on the 2022 U.S. Energy Employment Report (USEER). The median wage of an energy efficiency worker is $24.44, 28% higher than the national median of $19.14. The efficiency sector also has more than 80% of efficiency employers contributing to healthcare, and more than 78% contribute to retirement accounts.