The Lowest-Performing Energy Efficiency Services Goes to...

The Lowest-Performing Energy Efficiency Services Goes to...

Florida is home to the Daytona 500, Walt Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center, and an ease that attracts retirees. Unfortunately, the country's third most populous state can now add lowest-performing energy efficiency efforts to the list. Florida's energy efficiency policies haven't been updated in 27 years. The Florida Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act (FEECA) calls on Florida's Public Service Commission (PSC) to set goals every five years for Florida's largest electric utilities. FEECA is meant to boost utilities' investments in energy efficiency, conservation and customer-sited renewable energy for utilities in the state. The ACEEE recommends households spend no more than 6% of their income on energy bills. However, families in Carrabelle, Florida are paying an average of $374 per month in energy bills. That's the average in a city where 34% of households live below the poverty line.

Each year the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) compiles efficiency performance data from 500 electric utilities in the Southeast. "Florida has over one third of the region's population. It is by far the largest state [in the Southeast] and yet it captured less savings than South Carolina, which has just one quarter of the population," said Forest Bradley-Wright, SACE's Energy Efficiency Director. "It's less than half of the regional average. It's about a fifth of the national average." Despite have record lows, the Sunshine State's changes may set the standard for surrounding areas with little or no energy efficiency programs, like Tennessee and Alabama. In fact, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was accused of abandoning energy efficiency programs all together.

SACE's Bradley-Wright continued, "If we're going to see a change in performance, it is necessarily going to come from Florida embracing more modern and industry standard practices for efficiency with its new rules." Experts feel energy efficiency could be a solution to households drowning in unpaid energy bills. They hope to successfully pair efficiency programs with repayment plans but admit debt forgiveness may be necessary. Changes in Integrated Resource Plans (IRP) are under development in South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia. Florida may be next. Many are already calling on the PSC to modernize energy-efficiency rules under FEECA. Vote Solar, a non-profit advocacy group, suggests very dramatic changes: (1) Change how utilities make money, (2) Adjust cost-effectiveness tests and (3) Try harder to reach the hard-to-reach customers.

Community-owned utility, JEA, is doing much better than the state when it comes to energy efficiency. It even sits above the regional average. However, the Jacksonville utility is still below the national average. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Floridians have some of the highest power bills in the nation. The policy changes, made by the president, could protect a program that saves the average U.S. household $500 annually on their energy bills. The president has also asked the DOE to focus on efficiency and other clean energy options. The DOE will "immediately review all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and other similar agency actions."

For now, Duke is king. Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress lead the Southeast region in percent annual efficiency savings and topped the national average. Georgia Power and Tampa Electric exceeded the Southeast regional average, but this is far below the rest of the nation. By contrast, average savings in the Northeast are more than five times higher than in the Southeast. Why has the Northeast embraced efficiency while others 'abandon' it? How does your state rank for energy efficiency services? And how can your utility continue to create savings for customers through efficiency programs?