Energy Efficiency in the South

Energy Efficiency in the South is a recent report by a team of researchers at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Georgia Institute of Technology and 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.

Author(s): Marilyn A. Brown, Etan Gumerman, Xiaojing Sun, Youngsun Baek, Joy Wang, Rodrigo Cortes, and Diran Soumonni

Published: April 2010

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The economic recession, climate change concerns and rising electricity costs have motivated many states to embrace energy efficiency as a way to create new local jobs, lower energy bills, and promote environmental sustainability. With this surge of interest in energy efficiency, policymakers are asking how much wasted energy can be eliminated by expanding investments in cost-effective technologies and practices.

This report describes the results of primary in-depth research focused on the size of the South‟s energy-efficiency resources and the types of policies that could convert this potential resource into reality over the next 20 years. We limit the scope of our analysis to energy-efficiency improvements in three sectors: residential and commercial buildings and industry (RCI). Our rigorous modeling approach – applied uniformly across the multi-state region and accompanied by a detailed documentation of assumptions and methods – separates this study from many previous assessments of energy-efficiency potential.

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