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EPA and NARUC Announce Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects with Six States

Release Date: 02/16/2005
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Contact: John Millett, 202-564-7842 / [email protected]

(02/16/05) Today, EPA and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) announced the formation of EPA-State Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Projects between EPA and utility regulators from six states. The six states involved in the initiative are Arkansas, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Minnesota and New Mexico. The projects involve state utility regulators working with EPA to explore approaches for reducing the cost of consumer electric and gas bills through cost-effective energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean distributed generation.

Based on a number of recent studies, EPA estimates that if all states were to implement cost-effective energy efficiency and clean energy policies, the expected growth in demand for electricity could be cut in half by 2025, providing billions of dollars in customer savings, contributing to lower prices for natural gas and substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Through the EERE projects, EPA and the states will explore policies and programs for delivering more energy efficiency to electric and gas customers, which in a growing number of states across the country is delivering energy savings at a significantly lower cost than the construction of new electricity supply or buying natural gas. The initiative will also explore opportunities for combined heat and power and renewable energy to contribute to a lower cost, cleaner power system.

The projects will build upon the past decade of experience by EPA's ENERGY STAR program in helping utilities and others to implement low-cost energy efficiency programs that deliver energy bill savings to their customers. Through 2004, Americans with the help of ENERGY STAR have reduced national electricity demand by almost 4 percent, saving about $10 billion annually and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 20 million vehicles.

The EPA-State EERE projects were announced at NARUC's 2005 Winter Meetings held in Washington, D.C.

More information is available online at: https://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy .