Efficiency Study: South could meet future demand through agressive efficiency investments

From the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance:

According to a new study released today by a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Duke University, aggressive adoption of energy efficiency programs in the South would lower utility bills by $41 billion, create 380,000 new jobs, reduce the need for new power plants, and save 8.6 billion gallons of fresh water by 2020.

Total energy demand in the South, where per capita energy consumption is already higher than average, is projected to increase 16 percent from 2010 to 2030. At the same time, many Southern states spend less on energy efficiency programs than their peer states in other parts of the country. The research strongly indicates the South's projected growth in energy consumption need not materialize if the region begins to tap into its tremendous energy efficiency potential.

"An aggressive commitment to energy efficiency could be an economic windfall for the South," states Dr. Marilyn Brown of the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-lead researcher of the study. "Such a shift would lower energy bills for cash-strapped consumers and businesses and create more new jobs for Southern workers."

Read the study:  Southeast Energy Efficiency Study: Energy Efficiency in the South is a recent report by a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Duke University’s Nicholas Institute that uses state-of-the-art economic modeling to evaluate the potential impact of energy efficiency policies on Southern states. The energy efficiency policies examined by the research team fall into three broad categories: residential, commercial and industrial. The report also includes state profiles for each state in the region (including the District of Columbia) and the economic and employment impacts of energy efficiency for each individual state.