Energy efficiency remains America’s cheapest, cleanest, and fastest energy source for five years running. That’s the conclusion of a new study that shows that the utility cost per kWh of energy efficiency has held steady or even slightly declined at about $0.025 over the last half decade, even as the costs for new coal, nuclear, and other supply-side energy alternatives have risen.
Titled Saving Energy Cost-Effectively: A National Review of the Cost of Energy Saved Through Utility-Sector Energy Efficiency Programs, the new analysis from the nonprofit and independent American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) updates the organization’s widely cited benchmark research of 2004 showing that the average cost of delivering energy efficiency programs in the U.S. was then $0.03/kWh.
The report notes: “In contrast, recent conventional energy supply-side options have typically cost between $0.07 and $0.15 per kWh — about three to four times the cost of energy efficiency investments … In 2008, pulverized coal cost between $0.07 and $0.14 per kWh, combined-cycle natural gas cost between $0.07 and $0.10 per kWh, and wind cost between $0.04 and $0.09 per kWh … Furthermore, as energy supply-side resource costs are highly volatile, energy efficiency remains a financially stable, long-term investment. In the near future, this cost picture will likely be very similar.” The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that in 2020 new conventional power plants including coal and nuclear will cost about $0.10 per kWh, or four times higher than current energy efficiency program costs.
LightNOW’s take: This is proof that energy efficiency is still the least costly energy resource option for utilities and U.S. policy.
Click here to download the complete study findings.
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