Revised Waxman-Markey Energy Bill Could Accelerate Energy Efficiency Benefits by a Decade

Energy efficiency provisions in the American Clean Energy Security Act (ACES — H.R. 2454) with improvements could create more than 569,00 new jobs nationwide in the next ten years and provide $283 in annual savings for every household in America, according to an American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) study.
 
By 2030, these benefits could increase to more than one million jobs and $832 in annual savings per household, while reducing government-projected levels of nationwide carbon emissions by 15 percent, or 959 million metric tons, according to ACEEE.
 
The report underscores the energy efficiency potential still available as the Senate considers energy and climate legislation. Examined improvements would result in 48 percent more jobs and 32 percent more consumer savings than the 383,800 jobs and $215 in annual household savings in 2020 than the energy efficiency provisions of ACES, the original House bill, would provide.
 
Improvements to ACES considered in ACEEE’s analysis are:
 
    * Strengthening the Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) that sets a 10 percent energy savings goal for electric utility companies. (ACES includes a 5 percent EERS with an optional 3 percent increase.)
    * Requiring one-third of the electric utility allowances to be used for energy efficiency improvements as are the natural gas allowances in ACES.  
    * Extending the allocation of 9.5 percent of carbon allowance revenue to the State Energy and Environmental Development (SEED) fund to 2030. (ACES  ramps down SEED fund spending beginning in 2016.)
 
The study did not consider the impact on consumers of the cap-and-trade provisions in ACES.

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