ATLANTA – As a result of their energy efficiency programs, the top 15%-performing investor-owned utilities save at least 5.5% of their total electricity sales and spend no more than $3 per MWh to achieve these results, according to a new Chartwell report, Utility Energy Efficiency Programs and Benchmarking Data.
Utilities in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (all or parts of 14 Western states including California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and others) save an average of 1.42% of electricity sales. But top-performing (90th-plus percentile) WECC utilities save 7.47% of total electricity sales. While utilities in the region spend an average of $118 to save one MWh, the top performing utilities spend only $3 per MWh saved.
This is but a sampling of the data included in Utility Energy Efficiency Programs and Benchmarking Data, which features best practices case studies and benchmarking data on utilities’ energy efficiency programs. To determine the criteria utilities must meet to be a top performer in energy efficiency effects and dollars spent per MWh saved, Chartwell analyzed data based on information that more than 950 utilities submitted to the Department of Energy.
Included in Utility Energy Efficiency Programs and Benchmarking Data are more than a dozen charts and graphs providing details – by utility type and NERC location – on the MWh savings that the top 10%, top 15%, and top 25% of performers achieve. The data includes incremental effects (new programs or new participants in 2001, the year for which the data was reported), annual effects (programs launched/participants acquired prior to 2001), total incremental plus annual effects, and, most telling: electricity savings as a percentage of electricity sales. The charts also show the dollars spent per MWh saved for the best performers.
Chartwell’s best practices research features case studies and spotlights important initiatives within the industry. Among the seven case studies in the report are:
• Seattle City Light’s wide-ranging and award-winning energy efficiency program that is marketed neighborhood-by-neighborhood;
• Southern California Edison’s efforts to reach small business owners with energy efficiency programs;
• Florida Power & Light’s innovative energy efficiency advertising campaign;
• Plumas-Sierra Electric Cooperative’s geothermal heat pump program;
• Anaheim Public Utilities’ community outreach-based energy efficiency efforts.
The 50-page report, available from Chartwell for $295, is part of The Chartwell Utility Marketing Research Series, an ongoing information service that provides utility case studies; topical analysis and research centered around specific products or services in the utility and energy services marketplace; and a database of 86 utilities and the products and services they offer or are planning to offer.
For more information about the ongoing Research Series, the Report on Utility Energy Efficiency Programs and Benchmarking Data, or the products/services database, please call (800) 432-5879, or (404) 237-9099.
