Full Title: Review of Leading Rural Electric Cooperative Energy Efficiency Programs
Author(s): Adam Bickford and Howard Geller
Publisher(s): Southwest Energy Efficiency Project
Publication Date: January 1, 2016
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Rural electric cooperatives (RECs) account for about 12% of all electricity sales in the U.S. Over the past decade, investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs) in the Southwest have greatly expanded their energy efficiency and other demand-side management (DSM) programs by implementing state-mandated programs providing incentives for customers to install energy efficient equipment and improve savings on the customer side of the meter.1 RECs in the Southwest region have invested in some programs to help their customers save energy, but in general REC energy efficiency programs in the Southwest achieve less savings as a percentage of sales compared to the programs offered by the IOUs in the region. In contrast, as seen in this report, RECs in a number of other states implement well-funded programs that achieve much higher levels of energy savings compared to the efforts of RECs in the Southwest.
RECs operate in a range of regulatory structures and have developed a variety of administrative infrastructures, both of which impact the effectiveness of the energy efficiency investments they make. The purpose of this report is to review the energy efficiency and load management programs of RECs along two dimensions – the requirements of state policies and the types of program infrastructure in a state – and to identify the best practices that will support increased energy savings in the Southwest.