Benchmarking

Electric Utility

Energy Efficiency

Portfolios in the U.S.

M.J. Bradley & Associates, LLC

November 2011
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 3

Foreword 4

Preface 5

Executive Summary 6

Introduction 8

Energy Efficiency: State of the Market 9

Purpose of Benchmarking 11

Benchmarking Challenges 13

Utility Selection 17

Benchmarking Electric Energy Efficiency Portfolios 21

Expenditures 21

Impacts 24

Cost-Effectiveness 27

State Policies 27

Regional Updates 32

Northeast 32

Southeast 32

Midwest 33

Mid-Atlantic 33

Mountain West 33

West 34

Southwest 34

Data Sources, Issues, and Quality 35

Sources 35

Issues 36

Quality 37

Benchmarking Metrics 38

Spending 38

Impacts 39

Cost-Effectiveness 40

Data Recommendations 41

Endnotes 42
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3

Acknowledgements

This report was funded by a grant from the Energy Foundation.

We would like to acknowledge and thank the following people who made

this report possible.

REPORT AUTHORS

Brian Jones, MJB&A (M.J. Bradley & Associates, LLC)

Lily Hoffman-Andrews, MJB&A

Isaac Liberman, MJB&A

Lea Reynolds, MJB&A

Austin Whitman, MJB&A

REPORT REVIEWERS AND CONTRIBUTORS

David Wooley, Energy Foundation

Dan Mullen, Ceres

Dan Bakal, Ceres

Devra Wang, NRDC

Ralph Cavanagh, NRDC

Dan York, ACEEE

Derek Murrow, ENE (Environment Northeast)

Sam Krasnow, ENE

Steven Schiller, Schiller Consulting

Chris James, RAP

Niko Dietsch, US EPA

Joe Bryson, US EPA

Jeff Brown, US EPA

Report photo images are from PhotoDisc and iStock.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | FOREWORD 4

Foreword

In these uncertain economic times, making smart investments in energy is of paramount importance.

Our country faces a critical need for jobs, energy security, and cleaner ways to power our economy.

Investing in energy efficiency has the potential to help address each of these challenges.

Utilities are at the center of the energy efficiency opportunity. They manage millions of customer

relationships, hold data on energy use patterns across their service territories, and have the ability to

assist utility commissions by displacing generation with sound energy efficiency policies.

Twenty-six states have recognized that energy efficiency is the cheapest way to meet new and existing

demand, and have implemented some form of energy efficiency resource standard. Many utility

regulators have established rules that require utilities,such as National Grid, to invest in cost-effective

energy efficiency before investing in new power plants.

The rationale for this is clear.Cost-effective energy efficiency measures allow us to provide customers

with one kilowatt-hour of energy savings for between three and five cents.In comparison, customers

around the United States pay between 6.5 cents and 16.5 cents for their electricity, depending on

where they live. As a result, investing in energy efficiency can typically produce three to four dollars

of savings for each dollar invested. In 2012, our total savings through new energy efficiency

investment in Massachusetts is expected to be over one million megawatt-hours—as much electricity

as 92,000 typical homes would use in a year.

At the same time as it is saving us money and reducing emissions, energy efficiency is helping our

economy. Energy efficiency projects yield positive returns for our customers, create local jobs for

thousands of workers, and save millions of megawatt-hours of electricity. We managed to grow our

economy in Massachusetts by nearly four percent per year from 1999 through 2009, even while the

state’s electricity consumption grew less than one percent per year. Decreasing energy intensity in

this way provides significant competitive advantage to Massachusetts and to our entire country.

National Grid welcomes this MJB&A report as a clear assessment of the status quo.It evaluates utilitysponsored energy efficiency programs and improves our ability to understand their reach, identify

their strengths, and fix their weaknesses. We hope that this report will in fact be followed by others,

and that the industry will in turn benefit by gaining access to industry-wide metrics that help us be

smarter and more effective with our programs.

Edward White, Jr.

Vice President, Energy Products

National Grid
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | PREFACE 5

Preface

The goal of this report is to highlight the importance—and the challenges—of benchmarking electric

utility energy efficiency portfolios, and to initiate a benchmarking process that will continue to evolve

over time. Benchmarking allows for direct comparison of spending and energy savings across electric

utility energy efficiency portfolios. This report discusses the difficulties involved in benchmarking

energy efficiency portfolios, evaluates and recommends a suite of metrics, and demonstrates these

metrics using a diverse set of electric utilities.

Many energy efficiency reports evaluate state-level policies and aggregate results or highlight

individual programs of leading utilities. This report is different in that it provides a top down analysis

of electric utility energy efficiency portfolios—something that is not routinely provided publicly

today. This has not been done to date not because no one has thought of it, but rather because existing

datasets are challenging to compare given the different approaches to portfolio design,

implementation and accounting for energy savings that exist from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and

hence from utility to utility.

Data on U.S. ratepayer-funded energy efficiency portfolios are available to the public through

databases maintained by federal agencies. Electric power industry participants in the United States

are required to report demand side management spending and energy savings data to the Energy

Information Administration (EIA) through form EIA-861. Other sources of data include public

utility commissions, which often require utilities to file program planning documents, independent

evaluation, monitoring and verification reports (EM&V), and annual spending and energy savings

information on their energy efficiency programs, and industry data gathering efforts such as that of

the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE). This report is based on 2009 utility level data publicly

available from EIA.

Ideally, benchmarking should serve as a key component of the effort to increase deployment of energy

efficiency by broadly identifying the best-performing portfolios. This could potentially lead to greater

cooperation around the industry over successful program implementation and helping regulators

set targets and appropriate budgets. While the benchmarking is not perfect, it illustrates the relative

magnitude of energy efficiency spending and energy savings.

Benchmarking utility energy efficiency programs is becoming increasingly important as ratepayer

funded budgets grow and as state and federal policymakers evaluate policies to address energy and

environmental issues. This inaugural report does not include efficiency programs in natural gas and

fuel oil nor does it include efficiency programs administered by third parties, as EIA does not require

the reporting of this information. These are likely to be included in future reports if any when these

data become widely available.

The report is available in PDF format on the Internet at http://www.mjbradley.com. For questions

or comments about this report, please contact:

MJB&A

47 Junction Square Drive

Concord, MA 01742

Telephone: (978) 369-5533
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

Executive Summary

This report examines and compares the energy efficiency expenditures and energy savings of a diverse

set of electric utility ratepayer-funded energy efficiency portfolios in the United States while

highlighting the challenges that face this and similar efforts. Given the current shortcomings of

publicly available data, this report should be viewed as an opening statement in an ongoing dialogue

over the importance of comparing energy efficiency portfolios and the process for doing so.

Table ES-1 lists the 50 electric utilities featured in this report ranked by total electricity sales. These

utilities include public and private entities that together account for nearly one third of retail

electricity sales and over two thirds of electric energy efficiency spending reported to the Energy

Information Administration (EIA) through form EIA-861 in the 2009 data year.

The list includes 37 investor-owned utilities, four municipal utilities, five utilities controlled by states

or political subdivisions, three electric cooperatives, and one federal utility. These utilities were

selected to reflect a diverse and representative sampling of distribution companies throughout the

U.S. that administer energy efficiency portfolios for the benefit of their customers. The utilities were

selected based on data availability to represent a wide range of spending,savings,region of operation,

electricity prices, and a variety of other factors.

Utility Name Parent Company Name 2009 MWh

(millions) Utility Name Parent Company Name 2009 MWh(millions)

Florida Power & Light NextEra Energy 102.8 City of San Antonio CPS Energy 20.0

Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E 86.0 Entergy Arkansas Entergy 19.9

Southern California Edison Edison International 85.8 Duke Energy Ohio Duke 19.6

Georgia Power Southern 81.3 Long Island Power Authority Long Island Power Authority

19.3

PacifiCorp MidAmerican 52.8 Southwestern Electric Power AEP 16.1

Alabama Power Southern 51.0 Interstate Power & Light Alliant Energy 14.9

Progress Energy Florida Progress Energy 37.8 Indianapolis Power & Light AES 14.1

Consumers Energy CMS Energy 35.4 Idaho Power IDACORP 13.9

Union Electric Ameren 35.1 Metropolitan Edison FirstEnergy 13.5

Northern States Power -

Minnesota Xcel 34.7 Austin Energy Austin Energy 12.0

Baltimore Gas & Electric Constellation 31.6 Sacramento Municipal

Utility District SMUD 10.7

Tennessee Valley Authority Tennessee Valley

Authority 30.2 Santee Cooper Santee Cooper 10.2

Arizona Public Service Pinnacle West 28.2 Omaha Public Power District

Omaha Public Power District 10.1

Public Service of Colorado Xcel 27.4 Seattle City Light Seattle City Light 9.7

Potomac Electric Power Pepco Holdings 26.5 Mississippi Power Southern 9.3

Duke Energy Indiana Duke 26.2 Avista Avista 9.0

Salt River Project Salt River Project 26.2 Public Service

of New Mexico PNM Resources 8.9

Wisconsin Power & Light Alliant Energy 9.9 Public Service of New Hampshire Northeast Utilities 7.7

Ohio Power AEP 24.9 Narragansett Electric National Grid 7.6

Puget Sound Energy Puget Holdings 23.9 El Paso Electric El Paso Electric 7.1

Ohio Edison FirstEnergy 22.9 Western Massachusetts Electric Northeast Utilities 3.6

Connecticut Light & Power Northeast Utilities 22.3 Lee County Electric Cooperative

Lee County Electric

Cooperative 3.5

Nevada Power NV Energy 21.4 Lincoln Electric System Lincoln Electric System 3.1

Massachusetts Electric National Grid 21.0 United Electric Coop

Service

United Electric Coop

Service 1.8

MidAmerican Energy MidAmerican 20.4 Fairfield Electric

Cooperative

Fairfield Electric Cooperative 0.6

Table ES-1: Selected Utilities by Total Retail Electricity Sales
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7

The selected utilities are benchmarked on energy efficiency spending and savings reported to EIA.

Specifically, the utilities are ranked based on the following metrics:

Ó Total energy efficiency expenditures;

Ó Efficiency expenditures per megawatt-hour of retail sales (relative spending);

Ó Total incremental savings (savings from measures implemented during the reporting year); and

Ó Incremental savings as a percentage of megawatt-hours delivered (relative savings).

These metrics were chosen because they provide a relatively fair assessment of both the absolute and

relative status of utility-administered energy efficiency portfolios, based on available data reported

by the utilities to EIA.Issues with data availability prevented the inclusion of metrics tracking changes

in spending and savings over time, or calculating cost-effectiveness.

The selected utilities varied considerably in their levels of annual energy efficiency portfolio spending

and savings achieved.

Ó Reported energy efficiency expenditures of the selected utilities ranged from under $100,000

(Fairfield Electric Cooperative) to nearly $410 million (Pacific Gas & Electric).

Ó Normalized for retail electricity sales, reported energy efficiency expenditures ranged from

about $0.02 per megawatt-hour of retail electricity sales (Ohio Edison) to about $4.80 per

megawatt-hour of retail electricity sales (Pacific Gas & Electric).

Ó Reported annualized energy savings from new energy efficiency measures ranged from about

500 (Ohio Edison) to nearly 1.6 million megawatt-hours (Southern California Edison and

Pacific Gas & Electric).

Ó As a percentage of total retail sales, the selected utilities reported energy savings from under

0.1 percent to nearly 2 percent.

Ó The top 10 utilities all reported achieving single-year energy savings equal to 1 percent or more

of their annual electricity sales.

State policies and politicalsupport for energy efficiency are major drivers of utility spending, particularly

for regulated, investor-owned utilities. Through an appropriate mix of policies, states can remove the

disincentives traditional regulation created for a utility to aggressively pursue cost-effective energy

efficiency.

1 Notsurprisingly, larger and more successful programstend to coincidewith stable multiyear

budgets, clear energy savings goals, and mechanismsthat align utility financial incentives with delivery

of effective energy efficiency portfolios (for example, decoupling of utility revenues from electricity

sales and shareholder incentives to achieve savings from consumer energy efficiency programs).

The extent to which programs differ by region indicates the importance of variations in state policy

and climatic zones, customer composition, utility experience, and the evaluation, measurement, and

verification provisions in place.

A major obstacle to benchmarking ratepayer-funded energy efficiency portfolios is the availability,

quality, and comparability of data. Currently, there is no comprehensive data source that collects and

publicly releases all the data necessary to conduct a robust benchmarking of energy efficiency programs.

While comprehensive national data are not available, state utility commissions generally provide

rigorous oversight of energy efficiency program plans, spending and energy savings and require that

significantresources be dedicated to evaluation, measurement, and verification.The data shortcomings

that impact national benchmarking are largely due to the lack of current federal reporting programs’

lack of rigorous,standardized definitions; quality assurance and quality control; and needed authority

and financial resources for EIA.

Larger and more

successful

programs tend to

coincide with stable

multiyear budgets,

clear energy savings

goals, and

mechanisms that

align utility financial

incentives with

delivery of effective

energy efficiency

portfolios.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | INTRODUCTION 8

Introduction

This report provides a discussion of benchmarking ratepayer-funded electric utility energy efficiency

portfolios in the United States. Measuring and comparing energy efficiency portfolios is becoming

increasingly important as energy efficiency begins to play a larger role in our nation’s energy mix,

and utility energy efficiency budgets increase.

2 The goal of this report is to highlight the importance—

and the challenges—of benchmarking electric energy efficiency portfolios, and to initiate a

benchmarking process that will continue to evolve over time.

This report focuses solely on utility-administered electric energy efficiency portfolios. Although

efficiency programs exist for natural gas and other fuels, there are insufficient data available at this

time to allow benchmarking of these programs. Similarly, due to data and comparability issues, thirdparty administrators,which manage some or all efficiency programs in certain states, are not included

in this report.

While electric utility companies are currently benchmarked against their peers on a variety of issues,

ranging from reliability and customer satisfaction to air emissions and sustainability, there is currently

no comprehensive ranking of the industry’s energy efficiency portfolios by utility. This is a gap that

should be addressed in order to provide better information for stakeholders and improve the quality

and performance of efficiency programs. A benchmarking analysis can provide tremendous value

for stakeholders and regulators who want to compare the magnitude of energy efficiency portfolio

budgets and energy savings between electric utility companies,recognize best practices, and perhaps

most importantly, discover where utilities are lagging behind and identify opportunities for action.

As with any benchmarking process, the main challenge in ranking energy efficiency portfolios is to

establish an informative set of comparative metrics, based on data that is available, consistent, and

reliable. This report discusses the difficulties involved in benchmarking energy efficiency portfolios,

evaluates and recommends a suite of metrics, and demonstrates these metrics using a diverse set of

electric utilities.

Many energy efficiency reports aggregate energy efficiency programs at a state or national level, or

highlight individual programs as best practices. This report is different in that it provides a top-down

analysis of a diverse mix of energy efficiency portfolios administered by individual electric utilities

across the United States. This type of analysis has not been conducted to date due to the unique

challenges it poses. Currently, publicly available data on utility energy efficiency programs have

numerous issues with quality and comparability. As such, any initial attempt to benchmark utilities

using these data will necessarily be flawed. This report will serve to illustrate the relative magnitude

of energy efficiency expenditures and energy savings between selected utilities, and to highlight the

work that still needs to be done in providing publicly available, quality-assured, and comparable data.

The main challenge

in ranking energy

efficiency portfolios

is to establish an

informative set of

comparative metrics,

based on data

that is available,

consistent, and

reliable.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | ENERGY EFFICIENCY: STATE OF THE MARKET 9

Energy Efficiency:

State of the Market

Policymakers, electric utilities, and other stakeholders broadly agree that energy efficiency is a proven,

least-cost energy resource that should play a foundational role in the nation’s energy strategy. Energy

efficiency lowers bills for customers, enhances grid reliability, offsets the need for new generation

and transmission capacity,reduces air pollution and other supply-side environmental impacts, creates

jobs, and expands markets for energy-efficient technologies and services.

New EPA rules regulating air emissions from fossil fuel power plants will require electric utilities to

deploy a wide range of pollution-control technologies, new power plants with relatively low emissions,

and demand-side measures to reduce air emissions from electricity production.

Investments in energy efficiency create construction and manufacturing jobs and redirect spending

from energy—which creates very few jobs per dollar spent—to more employment-intensive

industries. For example, one study found that California’s energy efficiency policies from 1972-2006

drove a net increase of 1.5 million full-time equivalent jobs, and saved households $56 billion on

their energy bills.

3

In its widely-cited market survey, McKinsey & Company estimates that total 2008 efficiency market

spendingwas on the order of $10 to $12 billion: $2.5 billion through utility programs, $3.5 billion through

Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), and $4 to $6 billion on “insulation and devices.”4 This excludes

expenditures of $8 to $10 billion on energy-saving equipment and services mandated by building codes.

5

Support for energy efficiency has expanded significantly in recent years. For instance, the American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) included the largest single investment in

energy efficiency in U.S. history. Approximately $30 billion was allocated for energy efficiency

programs, about $12 billion of which went directly to states.

6 For some states, these funds constituted

their first significant investments in energy efficiency and introduced consumers and policy-makers

to the benefits of energy efficiency.

As states gain more experience with energy efficiency programs, multiyear funding plans have become

more commonplace. Such plans are critical to ensure successful ongoing implementation of efficiency

measures, as they provide certainty for consumers, utilities, and third-party contractors while

allowing for better long-term planning and increased administrative efficiency. While states in the

Northeast, California, and the Pacific Northwest have traditionally led the way, policy support for

efficiency has grown fastest in Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic states over recent years.

7

According to the Consortium for Energy Efficiency’s (CEE) most recent survey, ratepayer-funded

efficiency programs (including both utilities and third-party administrators) budgeted over $5.4

billion in demand-side management spending for 2010. This represents a 24 percent increase over

reported 2009 budgets of nearly $4.4 billion.

8 Figure 1 illustrates this rapid growth in DSM budgets,

with energy efficiency leading the way.

According to the

Consortium for

Energy Efficiency's

most recent survey,

ratepayer-funded

efficiency programs

budgeted over $5.4

billion in demandside management

spending for 2010.

This represents a

24 percent increase

over reported 2009

budgets of nearly

$4.4 billion.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | ENERGY EFFICIENCY: STATE OF THE MARKET 10

Although budgets for ratepayer-funded electric energy efficiency programs have increased

substantially in recent years, these expenditures comprise just a small fraction of total electric sector

spending. In 2009 ratepayer-funded electric efficiency programs totaled $4.4 billion, but by

comparison, consumers spent nearly $360 billion on electricity.

9 In the same year, power producers

brought over 23 gigawatts of new generating capacity online for an estimated cost of about $34.5

billion.

10,11 This new generation is significantly more expensive than energy efficiency; many

researchers and utilities have conducted detailed evaluations of energy efficiency costs relative to

generation and consistently find that supply-side resources cost at least three times as much as energy

efficiency on a kilowatt-hour basis. Figure 2 compares EIA’s projections of the cost of various types

of new generation in 2016 with the average cost of energy efficiency.

12,13

Figure 1: Growth of Reported Energy Efficiency Budgets (2006—2010)

Figure 2: Cost of Energy Efficiency vs. Levelized Cost of New Generation (2016)

Source: Consortium for Energy Efficiency

Source: EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2011 and ACEEE
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | PURPOSE OF BENCHMARKING 11

Purpose of Benchmarking

Transparent information on ratepayer-funded energy efficiency portfolios is useful to a wide range of

decision-makers,including electric companies,financial analysts,investors,policymakers, and consumers.

For electric utilities, the provision of transparent information supports corporate self-evaluation

and business planning by allowing companies to assess their performance relative to key competitors,

prior years, and industry benchmarks. By understanding and tracking their performance, companies

can evaluate how different business decisions may affect performance over time, and how they may

more appropriately consider energy supply and demand issues in their corporate policies and

business planning.

The financial community and investors in the electric utility industry need accurate information

concerning energy efficiency investments and outcomes in order to evaluate how utilities are

adjusting their business models to focus on demand-side resources. Energy savings information is

material to investors and can be an important indicator of how well a company is maintaining

resource diversity and managing customer costs and risks such as future environmental regulation

and fuel price volatility. Furthermore, the increasing prevalence of incentives for utilities that achieve

or surpass savings targets represents an emerging opportunity for shareholders to benefit from

successful efficiency programs.

Information on energy efficiency rankings is also useful to state and federal policymakers who are

working to develop long-term solutions to energy and environmental issues. Information about

energy efficiency helps policymakers by indicating which regulatory policies have been effective,

where opportunities may exist for improvements, and where policy action is required to encourage

further energy efficiency gains.

Finally, benchmarking information is valuable to electricity consumers. Accurate information on

the costs and impacts of energy efficiency investments builds public awareness of energy and

environmental issues and the fact that efficiency remains a plentiful resource with lower costs than

supply-side investments. A straightforward, public comparison of efficiency programs allows

consumers to judge how well their utility uses ratepayer dollars to deploy energy efficiency relative

to others across the country, and the efficacy of the programs the utility implements. This knowledge

enables consumers to hold companies accountable for decisions and activities that affect their

electricity bills and rates, as well as the environment and public health.

Accurate

information on the

costs and impacts

of energy efficiency

investments builds

public awareness

of energy and

environmental

issues and the fact

that efficiency

remains a plentiful

resource with lower

costs than supplyside investments.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | PURPOSE OF BENCHMARKING 12

Benchmarking efficiency portfolios can also help the public verify that companies are meeting their

energy reduction and environmental commitments. For example, some electric companies are

establishing voluntary energy and emissions reduction goals; other companies are required by statute

to make such reductions. Public information is necessary to verify the energy and emission reduction

claims made by utilities. Public awareness of companies’ environmental performance supports

informed public policymaking by promoting understanding of the economic and environmental

tradeoffs of different energy supply and demand-side options and policy approaches.

Benchmarking is not a new concept for the electric utility sector.In fact, electric utilities are routinely

benchmarked or benchmark themselves on a wide range of business and operational issues including,

but not limited to, the following:

Ó Compensation packages of top level executives;

Ó Customer satisfaction;

Ó Reliability performance;

Ó Safety records;

Ó Air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions;

Ó Climate change-related risks and opportunities; and

Ó Sustainability efforts.

In the future,robust benchmarking of efficiency programsshould aim to fill the current void and create

a comprehensive comparison of efficiency programs to support greater stakeholder involvement.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING CHALLENGES 13

Benchmarking Challenges

Currently, the greatest obstacles to benchmarking electric energy efficiency portfolios are data

availability and comparability. Publicly available data on efficiency portfolios are limited, contain

gaps, and lack quality assurance. For a detailed discussion of these problems, see the “Data Sources,

Quality, and Problems” section of this report.

Even with improved data, comparing efficiency portfolios of utilities that operate under different

circumstances and policy regimes would present considerable challenges. Factors that tend to

confound comparisons between utility efficiency portfolios include, among others, differences in

measuring and accounting for energy savings;regulatory structures; geographic region of operation;

customer composition; electricity rates; and utility experience. Below is a brief overview of several

ways which two utilities may differ and how these differences can affect the comparison of energy

efficiency portfolios.

Evaluation, Measurement & Verification Standards

Evaluation,measurement,& verification (EM&V) protocols are used to estimate savingsfrom individual

efficiency projects, programs, and portfolios. Differences in EM&V standards for efficiency programs

across jurisdictions raise considerable concerns over the comparability of program results. State public

utility commissions(PUCs) or otherregulatory authorities are typically responsible for establishing EM&V

requirements for the efficiency programs under their jurisdiction. According to a recent report released

by the LawrenceBerkeleyNational Laboratory,nearly 20 states have created or are in the process of creating

their own EM&V protocols or guidelines for energy efficiency efforts.

14 As such, the definition and

measurement of a megawatt-hoursaved may vary from state-to-state.For example,utilitiesin Minnesota,

Iowa, and Maine report grosssavingswhile those in otherstates,such asCalifornia andVermont,perform

net-to-gross analysis and report verified net savings. Some states uses “stipulated” savings values (based

on standard assumptions of the energy savings provided by particular projects), while others conduct

considerably more on-site analysis. Which data are reported to regulatory bodies can vary as well: some

utilities may report ex ante expectations of savings, while others may report ex post savings values that

have been subjected to verification and review. Several organizations are currently working to increase

the consistency of EM&V across the industry at either the regional or national level, including:

Factors that

tend to confound

comparisons

between utility

efficiency portfolios

include, among

others, differences

in measuring and

accounting for

energy savings;

regulatory

structures;

geographic region

of operation;

customer

composition;

electricity rates;

and utility

experience.
Ó The Northwest Regional Technical Forum (RTF) serves as a model for developing common

regional EM&V protocols.

15

Ó The Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership manages the Evaluation, Measurement, and

Verification Forum (EM&V Forum). The EM&V Forum is a multi-year project to support the

development and use of consistent EM&V protocols, and in the reporting of savings impacts

and costs for energy efficiency and demand-side resources.

16

Ó TheNorthAmerican Energy Standards Board has begun a processthat may lead to the development

of M&V standards that would apply to both wholesale and retail energy efficiency markets.

17

Ó The State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network (SEE Action) is a state and local effort

facilitated by the federal government that helps states, utilities, and other local stakeholders

take energy efficiency to scale and achieve all cost-effective energy efficiency by 2020. The

EM&V Working Group leads the SEE Action efforts to improve energy efficiency management

by increasing the accuracy, credibility, and timeliness of EM&V results.

18

Despite these efforts, there is currently no national standard for how program-level EM&V is

conducted. There is also a lack of consistency in what gets reported by program administrators to

EIA. In other words, there are two key areas for uncertainty: one is the differences in measurement

practices by utilities as directed by their utility commissions, and the other is the decision of what

values are reported to EIA. Therefore, even when savings data are available and appear reasonably

sound, they may not be directly comparable to savings reported by a utility in a different state.

Regulatory and Policy Differences

Electric utilities charge their customers based on the quantity of electricity they consume. These

volumetric charges are used to pay for fixed costs such as the cost of owning, operating and

maintaining transmission and distribution equipment. However, under a regulatory model in which

utility revenues are tied to the volume of energy sales, energy efficiency leads to lower revenues by

reducing demand or demand growth. Traditional regulation is therefore often a major obstacle to

maximizing investment in low cost energy efficiency programs.

Regulators in many states have taken action to eliminate the disincentives present for energy efficiency

in the volume model through mechanisms that align utility financial incentives with delivery of

effective energy efficiency programs. One method is “decoupling,” in which utilities’revenues do not

depend on the volume of electricity sales.

Increasingly, states have also created performance incentives that offer investor-owned utilities an

opportunity to earn a profit on energy efficiency, to help level the playing field with investments in

generation. In many states, utilities can share in the overall bill savings the efficiency programs

provide to customers, encouraging utilities to maximize energy savings while minimizing the costs

of programs. In other states, utilities can earn bonuses for exceeding energy efficiency targets such

as those required by a state’s EERS, or can earn a rate on return on efficiency investments as they

would on supply-side investments. Such shareholder incentives have proven to be correlated with

higher utility investment in energy efficiency programs.

19

BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING CHALLENGES 14

Increasingly, states

have also created

performance

incentives that

offer investorowned utilities an

opportunity to earn

a profit on energy

efficiency, to help

level the playing

field with

investments in

generation.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING CHALLENGES 15

Another policy aimed at expanding efficiency efforts is an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard

(EERS). These policies, currently only enacted at the state level, require electric distribution

companies to meet energy savings goals. As of December 2010, 30 states had adopted or had a

pending EERS or energy savings target—more than double the number of states in 2006.

20 Some

states, including several Northeast states and California, take an“efficiency procurement” or “loading

order” approach to energy efficiency policies, in which state policy requires utilities to invest in all

cost-effective energy efficiency that is cheaper than supply resources.

An additional policy variable that can influence energy efficiency programs is the use of codes and

standards. Many states and local governments have adopted building codes for energy efficient

construction, and standards also exist in many jurisdictions for appliances and equipment that

achieve a certain level of efficiency. Some jurisdictions provide utility programs credit for their

involvement in passing and helping to implement codes. Often, energy efficiency programs and codes

work together synergistically, as efficiency programs provide an incentive for the development of

emerging efficiency technologies, and once these technologies are established they become

incorporated into codes.

21

Customer Composition

A utility’s customer composition is another factor that varies from one utility to another and presents

challenges for comparing energy efficiency programs. For example, a utility that serves numerous

industrial customers would likely need to customize energy efficiency projects to serve each customer.

Marketing costs of these programs would generally be lower,since individual outreach would be the

most effective way to encourage enrollment.Alternatively, a utility with mostly residential customers

may need to spend significantly more resources on marketing in order to reach its ratepayers, but

the programs the utility offers may be relatively straightforward. Furthermore, participation among

urban, suburban, and rural ratepayers can vary considerably. In urban areas, where renting

apartments is more common, participation may suffer due to split incentives, or the “Principal-Agent”

problem—landlords are less inclined to invest in energy efficiency because tenants pay energy bills,

and tenants are hesitant to make improvements because they do not own the property and may not

receive the full term of benefits from a project. Numerous other ratepayer composition factors can

also influence program participation.

Electricity Rates

Energy efficiency is a least-cost energy resource. However, the precise economic benefit to ratepayers

of a specific project or program depends on where it is implemented, due to regional differences in

electricity prices, which can affect project participation. The rate that customers pay for electricity

is dependent on a variety of factors, including the age and fuel sources of the generation mix

associated with delivered electricity. Figure 3 presents the average 2009 electricity rate in each state

across all utilities and customer classes.As Figure 3 demonstrates, the economic impact for customers

of saving a kilowatt-hour in New York is not the same as saving a kilowatt-hour in Georgia. While

an energy efficiency project or program may reduce a similar amount of electricity in both locations,

the net economic benefits to the electricity consumer are different. This may influence participation

in utility energy efficiency programs. However, the avoided costs for utilities from implementing

energy efficiency are less variable.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING CHALLENGES 16

Utility Experience with Efficiency Programs

Electric utilities in the U.S. are at various stages of energy efficiency program design and

implementation. While several utilities have sophisticated energy efficiency program offerings

targeting every customer class, others have just begun offering programs to their customers. Despite

efforts to publicize best practices and learn from experiences of other utilities, there is still a

considerable learning curve that utilities undergo when they begin administering efficiency programs,

and older programs may be more successful overall.

Figure 3: 2009 Average State Electricity Rates, All Customer Classes (¢/kWh)

!"#$%

&'"()%

*"+)%

)"+&%

)"!!%

!"+!%

)"'$%

$"'*%

$"(&%

!",&%

!"(*%

)")(%

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%)"*#%

!"*$%

$"'*%

!"(!%

!"(+%

!"+!%

*"'$%

$")*%

%%%%%%%%%%)"+,%

!"),%

$"$(%

*"'&%

$"$&%

)")+%

$"#,%

*")'%

$"*(% &(",#%

)")'%

*"$)% !"')%

*"($%

$"$+%

*"#'%

&&"#*%

$"#$%

&+"+,%

&+"'*%

-.% &,"&#%

/-% &("'$%

01% &#"+,%

-2% &,"*!%

23% &$"')%

/.% &("'*%

/4% &+"#+%

05% &+"&(%

67% &#",(%

83% &,"!+%

,&",&%

!"#"9:;%

)% *% &'% &+% !% ,&",% $

Source: EIA’s Electric Power Annual (2009) 

R

 

!"#$%

)"

 

#$%

!"+!%

)")'%

 

)")(%

$"'*%

 

23

/.

&$"')%

/. &("'*%

/4 #+% &+"

 

!"#$%

&(",#%

 

#$%

&'"()%

)"+&%

)"!!%

)"'$%

$"

 

$"(&%

!",&%

!"(*%

!"*$%

!"(!%

 

(!%

!"(+%

*"'$%

$")*%

%%%%%%%%%%)"+,%

!"),%

*"'&%

)"

*"($%

*"#'%

 

)")+%

*")'%

$"*(%

$"#$%

&+"+,%

 

&,"&#%

&("'$%

&#"+,%

&,"*!%

/4

5%

67%

83%

&+"#+%

05% &+"&(%

67% &#",(%

83% &,"!+%

 

*"+)% $"'*%

&+"'*%

 

'*% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%)"*#%

*"$)%

 

!"+!%

$")*%

$"$(% $"$&%

!"')%

$"$+%

 

$&%

$"#,%

&&"#*%

 

Source: EIA’s

 

’s Electric Power Annual (2009

 

9)

 

)%

 

!"# 9:;

)% *% &'% ! $

 

&+% ,% ,&"

The economic

impact for

customers of saving

a kilowatt-hour

in New York is not

the same as saving

a kilowatt-hour

in Georgia. While

an energy efficiency

project or program

may reduce

a similar amount

of electricity in both

locations, the net

economic benefits

to the electricity

consumer are

different.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | UTILITY SELECTION 17

Utility Selection

For any benchmarking exercise, establishing the universe of companies to compare is the first crucial

step. Since it would be overly cumbersome to evaluate all utilities in the country that report to EIA,

narrowing the field to a reasonable size is necessary.

For the purposes of this report, a sample of utilities was selected with an eye to diversity. Utilities

were chosen that represented a broad cross-section of the nation’s utilities with regard to a number

of qualities, including:

Ó Geographic region (census region, climatic zone)

Ó Population density of service territory (population/square mile)

Ó Total electricity deliveries (megawatt-hours)

Ó Electricity rates (average ¢/kWh)

Ó Distribution of customers by ratepayer class (residential, commercial, or industrial)

Ó Distribution of sales by ratepayer class

Ó Ownership type (investor-owned utility, municipal, cooperative, etc.)

Ó Regulatory structure (vertically-integrated or deregulated)

In addition to describing a wide range of relevant utility operating characteristics, many of these

criteria are likely to have a significant impact on the structure, funding, and effectiveness of electric

energy efficiency programs.

The utilities that resulted from this selection process are listed in Table 1, and Figure 4 (pages 19 and

20) displays the service territories of these utilities.

It is important to note that a few of these utilities operate in states where efficiency programs are

also administered by third-party administrators. Nine states, including New York, Oregon, and

Wisconsin, have third-party administrators that administer energy efficiency programs either instead

of or alongside utilities. In these states, generally speaking, a system benefit surcharge is added to all

utility bills; the utility then passes on the funding collected through the surcharge to the efficiency

administrator,who uses it to administer energy efficiency programs to utility ratepayers. These thirdparty administrators, in the states that have them, often take the place of utilities in administering

energy efficiency programs, and are generally funded by ratepayers through a surcharge on their

electric bills. (See box on page 18.)

Because these administrators do not report data to EIA, they were not included in our benchmarking;

nonetheless, they do account for a substantial volume of the ratepayer-funded energy efficiency

programs in the United States. The Consortium for Energy Efficiency reports that $436 million was

spent by third-party ratepayer-funded energy efficiency administrators in 2009, with $588 million

budgeted for 2010.

22
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | UTILITY SELECTION 18

Nine states have some form of thirdparty administrator that administers

energy efficiency programs using

ratepayer funds, either instead of or

alongside utilities. In these states,

generally speaking, a system benefit

charge (SBC) is added to all utility bills;

these funds are then passed on to the

efficiency administrator, who uses it to

administer energy efficiency programs to

utility ratepayers. These administrators

are also often the recipient of federal

stimulus funds or funding from programs

such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas

Initiative in the Northeast.

Vermont—Efficiency Vermont is run by a non-profit corporation, the Vermont Energy Investment

Corporation, under appointment by the Vermont Public Service Board. It is funded by an energy

efficiency charge on utility bills and administers efficiency programs in the state in place of utilities.

Maine—Efficiency Maine Trust is overseen by the state’s Public Utility Commission, funded by

an SBC, and administers efficiency programs in the state in place of utilities.

Hawaii—Hawaii Energy is Hawaii’s conservation and efficiency administrator, and is funded by

a public benefits charge on customer bills under contract with the state’s Public Utility

Commission.

Oregon—Energy Trust of Oregon serves the customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific

Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas; is funded by an SBC assessed to those

customers; and is overseen by the PUC.

New York—NYSERDA, a state agency, administers an SBC-funded set of programs called New

York Energy $mart; utilities in the state also administer their own programs.

New Jersey—Energy efficiency funds are collected by utilities through an SBC, which is then

paid to the New Jersey Clean Energy Program, overseen by the Board of Public Utilities. This

money is then paid to third-party contractors to administer efficiency programs.

Wisconsin—Regulated utilities in Wisconsin fund and administer energy efficiency programs

through the nonprofit Focus on Energy, overseen by the Public Service Commission. Municipal

and cooperative utilities can choose to opt out of Focus on Energy and administer their own

programs, and some investor-owned utilities additionally administer voluntary programs.

Delaware—Energy efficiency programs in the state are operated by the Delaware Sustainable

Energy Utility, as well as by utilities. The Sustainable Energy Utility is a nonprofit under contract

with the Delaware Energy Office, and its programs are funded by federal stimulus grants, sales

of renewable energy credits, tax-exempt bonds, and other sources.

District of Columbia—Washington, D.C.’s Sustainable Energy Utility administers efficiency

programs in the District, supported by the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund, which is funded by

ratepayers through a systems benefit charge. Programs are also administered by PEPCO, the

District’s only regulated distribution utility.

Third-Party Administrators
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | UTILITY SELECTION 19

Utility Name Parent Company/

Common Name Ownership Type States of Operation CensusRegion

Electricity

Deliveries

(MWh)

Energy Efficiency

Spending

(Thousand $)

Incremental

Savings

(MWh)

Florida Power & Light NextEra Energy Investor Owned FL South 102,762,272 79,201 154,120

Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E Investor Owned CA West 85,989,274 409,636 1,592,746

Southern California Edison Edison International Investor Owned CA West 85,848,831 229,591 1,596,177

Georgia Power Southern Investor Owned GA South 81,346,510 6,116 44,992

PacifiCorp MidAmerican Investor Owned CA, ID, OR, UT, WA, WY West 52,785,005 57,063 304,574

Alabama Power Southern Investor Owned AL South 51,030,063 1,877 19,665

Progress Energy Florida Progress Energy Investor Owned FL South 37,824,252 26,678 87,049

Consumers Energy CMS Energy Investor Owned MI Midwest 35,352,060 22,157 133,480

Union Electric Ameren Investor Owned MO Midwest 35,098,274 13,246 40,030

Northern States Power -

Minnesota Xcel Investor Owned MN Midwest 34,663,593 46,411 319,747

Baltimore Gas & Electric Constellation Investor Owned MD South 31,576,197 25,513 91,281

Tennessee Valley Authority Tennessee Valley Authority Federal AL, KY, MS, NC, TN South 30,206,805 22,490 208,222

Arizona Public Service Pinnacle West Investor Owned AZ West 28,173,296 25,562 208,917

Public Service of Colorado Xcel Investor Owned CO West 27,359,238 30,257 149,009

Potomac Electric Power Pepco Holdings Investor Owned DC, MD South 26,549,416 3,077 54,389

Duke Energy Indiana Duke Investor Owned IN Midwest 26,215,892 2,910 13,486

Salt River Project Salt River Project Political Subdivision AZ West 26,181,333 20,908 291,887

Wisconsin Power & Light Alliant Energy Investor Owned WI Midwest 9,858,145 12,837 61,894

Ohio Power AEP Investor Owned OH Midwest 24,936,379 6,907 132,200

Puget Sound Energy Puget Holdings Investor Owned WA West 23,896,559 69,621 307,888

Ohio Edison FirstEnergy Investor Owned OH Midwest 22,856,647 548 515

Connecticut Light & Power Northeast Utilities Investor Owned CT Northeast 22,265,846 47,413 161,469

Nevada Power NV Energy Investor Owned NV West 21,436,142 32,354 332,424

Massachusetts Electric National Grid Investor Owned MA Northeast 20,952,516 90,051 239,815

MidAmerican Energy MidAmerican Investor Owned IA, IL, SD, TX Midwest 20,424,386 28,834 220,689

City of San Antonio CPS Energy Municipal TX South 20,026,721 19,970 85,362

Entergy Arkansas Entergy Investor Owned AR South 19,926,337 4,936 48,050

Duke Energy Ohio Duke Investor Owned OH Midwest 19,633,388 10,134 63,872

Long Island Power Authority Long Island Power Authority State NY Northeast 19,271,142 45,953 125,588

Southwestern Electric Power AEP Investor Owned TX South 16,086,255 3,347 23,786

Interstate Power & Light Alliant Energy Investor Owned IA, MN Midwest 14,876,474 33,011 161,646

Indianapolis Power & Light AES Investor Owned IN Midwest 14,085,842 785 958

Idaho Power IDACORP Investor Owned ID, OR West 13,948,280 20,797 147,540

Metropolitan Edison FirstEnergy Investor Owned PA Northeast 13,488,679 2,693 3,105

Austin Energy Austin Energy Municipal TX South 12,035,686 14,864 102,274

Sacramento Municipal

Utility District SMUD Political Subdivision CA West 10,691,907 33,060 148,360

Santee Cooper Santee Cooper State SC South 10,205,326 5,006 14,154

Omaha Public Power District Omaha Public Power District Political Subdivision NE Midwest 10,148,466 1,454 23,056

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light Municipal WA West 9,693,426 30,502 97,594

Mississippi Power Southern Investor Owned MS South 9,311,852 2,547 2,867

Avista Avista Investor Owned ID, MT, WA West 8,954,984 17,557 80,830

Public Service of New Mexico PNM Resources Investor Owned NM West 8,867,533 6,173 38,729

Public Service of

New Hampshire Northeast Utilities Investor Owned NH Northeast 7,749,877 14,929 47,811

Narragansett Electric National Grid Investor Owned RI Northeast 7,556,300 27,011 79,102

El Paso Electric El Paso Electric Investor Owned NM, TX South 7,119,683 3,646 19,097

Western Massachusetts Electric Northeast Utilities Investor Owned MA Northeast 3,643,762 12,430 33,340

Lee County Electric Cooperative

Lee County Electric

Cooperative Cooperative FL South 3,517,697 2,522 4,784

Lincoln Electric System Lincoln Electric System Municipal NE Midwest 3,054,073 1,083 5,224

United Electric Coop Service United Electric Coop Service Cooperative TX South 1,837,820 108 1,757

Fairfield Electric Cooperative Fairfield Electric Cooperative Cooperative SC South 603,049 80 1,826

Table 1: Utilities Selected for Energy Efficiency Program Benchmarking
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | UTILITY SELECTION 20

Figure 4: Service Territories of Selected Utilities

The selected

utilities serve

geographically

diverse regions

and consist of 37

investor-owned

utilities, four

municipal utilities,

five utilities

controlled by

states or political

subdivisions,

three electric

cooperatives, and

one federal utility.

Source: Ventyx
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 21

Benchmarking Electric

Energy Efficiency Portfolios

This report benchmarks selected utilities on energy efficiency spending and savings achieved.

Specifically, the utilities are ranked based on the following metrics:

Ó Total energy efficiency expenditures;

Ó Efficiency expenditures per megawatt-hour of retail sales (relative spending);

Ó Total incrementalsavings(i.e.,savingsfrom measuresimplemented during the reporting year); and

Ó Incremental savings as a percentage of megawatt-hours delivered (relative savings).

These metrics were chosen because they provide a relatively fair assessment of both the absolute and

relative status of utility-administered energy efficiency programs, based on available data.In addition,

this section discusses the importance of cost-effectiveness as a measure of program success, although

currently available data preclude calculating a meaningful cost-effectiveness metric at this time. A

detailed description and explanation of the metrics used to benchmark the selected utilities can be

found in the “Benchmarking Metrics” section of this report.

The selected utilities are also compared based on the regulatory and policy landscape in which they

operate. Utilities do not directly control these factors, but they are critical in determining how

aggressively a utility pursues energy efficiency. Such a comparison may be useful in evaluating the

relative importance of certain policies for producing robust energy efficiency programs.

Expenditures

One of the moststraightforwardwaysto benchmark energy efficiency programsisto rank budget levels

and expenditures by utilities. While it does not capture many of the aspects that are most essential

about energy efficiency programs—such as effectiveness—it can provide a gross indicator of program

activity. The comparison of total expenditures on energy efficiency is relatively straightforward, and

there is general confidence in the accuracy of the data among stakeholders. Simply put, energy efficiency

expenditures are the amount of money a utility spends to implement energy efficiency measures,

including direct installations and construction, incentives paid to customers, advertising and outreach

campaigns, and administrative costs.Although quantity of spending is more or less straightforward

to determine, complexities arise in how costs are allocated to different program categories, and when

the activities of third-party administrators are considered. See the “Data Quality and Issues” section

of this report for a discussion of the issues surrounding allocation of program expenditures.

The metrics calculated and compared in this section are:

Ó Total efficiency expenditures; and

Ó Efficiency expenditures per megawatt-hour of retail sales (relative spending).

Table 2 and Figure 6 compare the 2009 energy efficiency programs of the selected utilities on these

spending metrics.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 22

Utility Name Parent Company/Common Name

Relative

Spending

Rank

Spending

Rank

Electricity

Deliveries

(MWh)

Energy Efficiency

Spending

(Thousand $)

Relative

Spending

($/MWh)*

Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E 1 1 85,989,274 409,636 $4.76

Massachusetts Electric National Grid 2 3 20,952,516 90,051 $4.30

Narragansett Electric National Grid 3 16 7,556,300 27,011 $3.57

Western Massachusetts Electric Northeast Utilities 4 30 3,643,762 12,430 $3.41

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light 5 13 9,693,426 30,502 $3.15

Sacramento Municipal Utility District SMUD 6 10 10,691,907 33,060 $3.09

Puget Sound Energy Puget Holdings 7 5 23,896,559 69,621 $2.91

Southern California Edison Edison International 8 2 85,848,831 229,591 $2.67

Long Island Power Authority Long Island Power Authority 9 9 19,271,142 45,953 $2.38

Interstate Power & Light Alliant Energy 10 11 14,876,474 33,011 $2.22

Connecticut Light & Power Northeast Utilities 11 7 22,265,846 47,413 $2.13

Avista Avista 12 25 8,954,984 17,557 $1.96

Public Service of New Hampshire Northeast Utilities 13 26 7,749,877 14,929 $1.93

Nevada Power NV Energy 14 12 21,436,142 32,354 $1.51

Idaho Power IDACORP 15 23 13,948,280 20,797 $1.49

MidAmerican Energy MidAmerican 16 15 20,424,386 28,834 $1.41

Northern States Power - Minnesota Xcel 17 8 34,663,593 46,411 $1.34

Wisconsin Power & Light Alliant Energy 18 29 9,858,145 12,837 $1.30

Austin Energy Austin Energy 19 27 12,035,686 14,864 $1.24

Public Service of Colorado Xcel 20 14 27,359,238 30,257 $1.11

PacifiCorp MidAmerican 21 6 52,785,005 57,063 $1.08

City of San Antonio CPS Energy 22 24 20,026,721 19,970 $1.00

Arizona Public Service Pinnacle West 23 18 28,173,296 25,562 $0.91

Baltimore Gas & Electric Constellation 24 19 31,576,197 25,513 $0.81

Salt River Project Salt River Project 25 22 26,181,333 20,908 $0.80

Florida Power & Light NextEra Energy 26 4 102,762,272 79,201 $0.77

Tennessee Valley Authority Tennessee Valley Authority 27 20 30,206,805 22,490 $0.74

Lee County Electric Cooperative Lee County Electric Cooperative 28 43 3,517,697 2,522 $0.72

Progress Energy Florida Progress Energy 29 17 37,824,252 26,678 $0.71

Public Service of New Mexico PNM Resources 30 33 8,867,533 6,173 $0.70

Consumers Energy CMS Energy 31 21 35,352,060 22,157 $0.63

Duke Energy Ohio Duke 32 31 19,633,388 10,134 $0.52

El Paso Electric El Paso Electric 33 37 7,119,683 3,646 $0.51

Santee Cooper Santee Cooper 34 35 10,205,326 5,006 $0.49

Union Electric Ameren 35 28 35,098,274 13,246 $0.38

Lincoln Electric System Lincoln Electric System 36 46 3,054,073 1,083 $0.35

Ohio Power AEP 37 32 24,936,379 6,907 $0.28

Mississippi Power Southern 38 42 9,311,852 2,547 $0.27

Entergy Arkansas Entergy 39 36 19,926,337 4,936 $0.25

Southwestern Electric Power AEP 40 38 16,086,255 3,347 $0.21

Metropolitan Edison FirstEnergy 41 41 13,488,679 2,693 $0.20

Omaha Public Power District Omaha Public Power District 42 45 10,148,466 1,454 $0.14

Fairfield Electric Cooperative Fairfield Electric Cooperative 43 50 603,049 80 $0.13

Potomac Electric Power Pepco Holdings 44 39 26,549,416 3,077 $0.12

Duke Energy Indiana Duke 45 40 26,215,892 2,910 $0.11

Georgia Power Southern 46 34 81,346,510 6,116 $0.08

United Electric Coop Service United Electric Coop Service 47 49 1,837,820 108 $0.06

Indianapolis Power & Light AES 48 47 14,085,842 785 $0.06

Alabama Power Southern 49 44 51,030,063 1,877 $0.04

Ohio Edison FirstEnergy 50 48 22,856,647 548 $0.02

Table 2: Comparison of Energy Efficiency Spending by Selected Utilities, 2009

* Relative spending is calculated as the dollars spent by a utility on energy efficiency per megawatt-hour of electricity delivered to customers and

does NOT refer to or imply the cost-effectiveness of a utility’s energy efficiency portfolio.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 23

Figure 6: Selected Utilities by Relative Spending

Pacific Gas & Electric

Massachusetts Electric

Narragansett Electric

Western Massachusetts Electric

Seattle City Light

Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Puget Sound Energy

Southern California Edison

Long Island Power Authority

Interstate Power & Light

Connecticut Light & Power

Avista

Public Service of New Hampshire

Nevada Power

Idaho Power

MidAmerican Energy

Northern States Power - Minnesota

Wisconsin Power & Light

Austin Energy

Public Service of Colorado

PacifiCorp

City of San Antonio

Arizona Public Service

Baltimore Gas & Electric

Salt River Project

Florida Power & Light

Tennessee Valley Authority

Lee County Electric Cooperative

Progress Energy Florida

Public Service of New

Mexico

Consumers Energy

Duke Energy Ohio

El Paso Electric

Santee Cooper

Union Electric

Lincoln Electric System

Ohio Power

Mississippi Power

Entergy Arkansas

Southwestern Electric Power

Metropolitan Edison

Omaha Public Power District

Fairfield Electric Cooperative

Potomac Electric Power

Duke Energy Indiana

Georgia Power

United Electric Coop Service

Indianapolis Power & Light

Alabama Power

Ohio Edison
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 24

Impacts

The overall goal of energy efficiency programs is to reduce the quantity of electricity consumed by

end-use consumers in order to reduce energy bills, generate associated economic benefits, and reduce

emissions of greenhouse gas and other air pollutants. Therefore, comparing efficiency programs

based on how much electricity they save is a critical component of the benchmarking process. At a

high level, ranking efficiency programs based on their energy savings identifies the most successful

programs and policies, and can also highlight effective savings measures, program approaches, and

generally promote identification and adoption of industry best practices. Furthermore, quantifying

energy savings enables analysis of the economic and environmental benefits achieved through bill

savings and emission reductions. Ultimately, these are the impacts that matter when evaluating

efficiency programs as an energy resource.

The metrics calculated and compared in this section are:

Ó Savings achieved by energy efficiency programs (incremental savings); and

Ó Incremental savings as a percent of retail electric sales (relative savings).

Table 3 and Figure 7 compare the 2009 energy savings achieved by selected utilities.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 25

Utility Name Parent Company/Common Name

Relative

Savings

Rank

Savings

Rank

Electricity

Deliveries

(MWh)

Incremental

Savings

(MWh)

Relative

Savings

(%)

Southern California Edison Edison International 1 1 85,848,831 1,596,177 1.9%

Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E 2 2 85,989,274 1,592,746 1.9%

Nevada Power NV Energy 3 3 21,436,142 332,424 1.6%

Sacramento Municipal Utility District SMUD 4 16 10,691,907 148,360 1.4%

Puget Sound Energy Puget Holdings 5 5 23,896,559 307,888 1.3%

Massachusetts Electric National Grid 6 8 20,952,516 239,815 1.1%

Salt River Project Salt River Project 7 7 26,181,333 291,887 1.1%

Interstate Power & Light Alliant Energy 8 12 14,876,474 161,646 1.1%

MidAmerican Energy MidAmerican 9 9 20,424,386 220,689 1.1%

Idaho Power IDACORP 10 17 13,948,280 147,540 1.1%

Narragansett Electric National Grid 11 27 7,556,300 79,102 1.0%

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light 12 22 9,693,426 97,594 1.0%

Northern States Power - Minnesota Xcel 13 4 34,663,593 319,747 0.9%

Western Massachusetts Electric Northeast Utilities 14 36 3,643,762 33,340 0.9%

Avista Avista 15 26 8,954,984 80,830 0.9%

Austin Energy Austin Energy 16 21 12,035,686 102,274 0.8%

Arizona Public Service Pinnacle West 17 10 28,173,296 208,917 0.7%

Connecticut Light & Power Northeast Utilities 18 13 22,265,846 161,469 0.7%

Tennessee Valley Authority Tennessee Valley Authority 19 11 30,206,805 208,222 0.7%

Long Island Power Authority Long Island Power Authority 20 20 19,271,142 125,588 0.7%

Wisconsin Power & Light Alliant Energy 21 29 9,858,145 61,894 0.6%

Public Service of New Hampshire Northeast Utilities 22 32 7,749,877 47,811 0.6%

PacifiCorp MidAmerican 23 6 52,785,005 304,574 0.6%

Public Service of Colorado Xcel 24 15 27,359,238 149,009 0.5%

Ohio Power AEP 25 19 24,936,379 132,200 0.5%

Public Service of New Mexico PNM Resources 26 35 8,867,533 38,729 0.4%

City of San Antonio CPS Energy 27 25 20,026,721 85,362 0.4%

Consumers Energy CMS Energy 28 18 35,352,060 133,480 0.4%

Duke Energy Ohio Duke 29 28 19,633,388 63,872 0.3%

Fairfield Electric Cooperative Fairfield Electric Cooperative 30 47 603,049 1,826 0.3%

Baltimore Gas & Electric Constellation 31 23 31,576,197 91,281 0.3%

El Paso Electric El Paso Electric 32 40 7,119,683 19,097 0.3%

Entergy Arkansas Entergy 33 31 19,926,337 48,050 0.2%

Progress Energy Florida Progress Energy 34 24 37,824,252 87,049 0.2%

Omaha Public Power District Omaha Public Power District 35 38 10,148,466 23,056 0.2%

Potomac Electric Power Pepco Holdings 36 30 26,549,416 54,389 0.2%

Lincoln Electric System Lincoln Electric System 37 43 3,054,073 5,224 0.2%

Florida Power & Light NextEra Energy 38 14 102,762,272 154,120 0.1%

Southwestern Electric Power AEP 39 37 16,086,255 23,786 0.1%

Santee Cooper Santee Cooper 40 41 10,205,326 14,154 0.1%

Lee County Electric Cooperative Lee County Electric Cooperative 41 44 3,517,697 4,784 0.1%

Union Electric Ameren 42 34 35,098,274 40,030 0.1%

United Electric Coop Service United Electric Coop Service 43 48 1,837,820 1,757 0.1%

Georgia Power Southern 44 33 81,346,510 44,992 0.1%

Duke Energy Indiana Duke 45 42 26,215,892 13,486 0.1%

Alabama Power Southern 46 39 51,030,063 19,665 0.0%

Mississippi Power Southern 47 46 9,311,852 2,867 0.0%

Metropolitan Edison FirstEnergy 48 45 13,488,679 3,105 0.0%

Indianapolis Power & Light AES 49 49 14,085,842 958 0.0%

Ohio Edison FirstEnergy 50 50 22,856,647 515 0.0%

Table 3: Comparison of Energy Savings by Selected Utilities, EIA 2009
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 26

Figure 7: Selected Utilities by Relative Savings

Southern California Edison

Pacific Gas & Electric

Nevada Power

Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Puget Sound Energy

Massachusetts Electric

Salt River Project

Interstate Power & Light

MidAmerican Energy

Idaho Power

Narragansett Electric

Seattle City Light

Northern States Power - Minnesota

Western Massachusetts Electric

Avista

Austin Energy

Arizona Public Service

Connecticut Light & Power

Tennessee Valley Authority

Long Island Power Authority

Wisconsin Power & Light

Public Service of New Hampshire

PacifiCorp

Public Service of Colorado

Ohio Power

Public Service of New

Mexico

City of San Antonio

Consumers Energy

Duke Energy Ohio

Fairfield Electric Cooperative

Baltimore Gas & Electric

El Paso Electric

Entergy Arkansas

Progress Energy Florida

Omaha Public Power District

Potomac Electric Power

Lincoln Electric System

Florida Power & Light

Southwestern Electric Power

Santee Cooper

Lee County Electric Cooperative

Union Electric

United Electric Coop Service

Georgia Power

Duke Energy Indiana

Alabama Power

Mississippi Power

Metropolitan Edison

Indianapolis Power & Light

Ohio Edison
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 27

Cost-Effectiveness

Cost-effectiveness is another important measure to compare the results of energy efficiency efforts.

For individual efficiency measures, the quantity of electricity saved over the useful life of the project,

per dollar spent, demonstrates how long it takes to recoup the capital investment in the measure and

determines whether or not the investment makes economic sense. At a portfolio level, calculating

cost-effectiveness allows comparison between administrators to determine which are achieving

savings at the lowest cost and obtaining the most net economic benefits for their customers, as well

as cost comparisons between efficiency programs and supply-side resources.

Benchmarking cost-effectiveness is necessary to identify best practices, as well as to identify programs

that are not achieving benefits commensurate with their expenditures. However, there is currently

no comprehensive, publicly available dataset that contains the necessary information for calculating

cost-effectiveness. Because energy efficiency spending results in savings that are realized over the

course of multiple years, the most important component for calculating a meaningful costeffectiveness metric for efficiency programs would be an estimate of the projected lifecycle savings

of all the measures implemented in a given year.

While a relative cost-effectiveness metric may be calculated using the quantity of spending and

savings in a given year, concerns with the accuracy of the energy savings data further reduce

confidence in the results of any cost-effectiveness calculations from this data source.

State Policies

Without policy changes directed at supporting energy efficiency, utilities are unlikely to invest

significant resources in energy efficiency, due to the inherent disincentives created by the classic

utility business model. Therefore, state policies are a major driving force behind the expansion of

cost-saving utility energy efficiency programs. This report considers the following policies for each

selected utility and for each state in which it operates:

Ó Decoupling of electricity revenues from sales, or similar mechanisms, to remove throughput

disincentives;

Ó Shareholder incentives for utilities that successfully implement efficiency programs; and

Ó Mandatory savings targets (e.g. EERS).

Importantly, many of the states that have achieved the highest savings with utility efficiency programs,

such as California and Massachusetts, have established all three policies—revenue decoupling, a

binding efficiency savings goal, and performance incentives.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 28

Tables 4 and 5 describe how each state was scored based on the policies in place in 2009 according

to ACEEE’s 2009 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. The scoring methodologies were also derived

from ACEEE’s Scorecard, but were altered to apply only to electric utility policies. Based on these

methodologies, states can earn a maximum score of six (6).

Table 6 compiles information on utility polices that were in place by state in 2009, including those

that were authorized by the state’s legislature or PUC, but were not yet implemented for any utilities.

Although the table may not accurately reflect the exact policy landscape for each utility in this report,

it is intended to illustrate the policies available by state that might influence energy efficiency

investments by electric utilities. Table 7 ranks the selected utilities based on the average score received

by each of the states in which the utility operates, weighted by the electricity deliveries by state.

Figures 8 and 9 below chart the relationship between the weighted average policy score for the selected

utilities and relative spending and savings, respectively, while highlighting top performers in both

spending and savings. Figure 8 identifies utilities with relative spending of $2.00 per megawatt-hour of

deliveries or greater. Figure 9 identifies utilities with relative savings of at least 1.0 percent of deliveries.

Figures 8 and 9 indicate that there is a relationship between the efficiency policy regime under which

a utility operates and both the level of energy efficiency investment and reported savings. The charts

show that as the weighted average policy score of a utility rises, the relative spending by that utility

and the relative savings achieved tend to rise as well. States with the most supportive policy regimes

have put these policies in place over many years, and states just starting out will gradually and

selectively implement energy efficiency policies over time. But these data show that significant energy

efficiency savings are possible even with relatively modest policy regimes. However, additional

statistical analysis would be required in order to determine the strength of the relationship of

spending and savings to policies and what other variables might also help explain the data.

Table 4: Utility Incentives Scoring Methodology

Table 5: Energy Savings Targets Scoring Methodology

Percent Savings Target Score

1.5% or greater 4

1% - 1.49% 3

0.5% - 0.99% 2

0.1% - 0.49% 1

First Resource Requirement 1

Less than 0.1% 0

Criteria Available Points

Decoupling has been implemented for at least one electric utility. 1

Performance incentives have been implemented for at least one utility. 1

Decoupling has been authorized but not implemented. 0.5

Performance incentives have been authorized but not implemented. 0.5

Alternative lost revenue recovery mechanism has been

authorized or implemented. 0.5
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 29

State Policy Score Decoupling (or similar) Performance Incentives Average Annual Savings Target

Alaska 0 No No None

Alabama 0 No No None

Arkansas 0 No No None

Arizona 1 No Yes None

California 5 Yes Yes 0.9%

Colorado 4 No Yes 1.0%

Connecticut 4.5 Authorized Yes 1.0%

District of Columbia 1.5 Yes Authorized None

Delaware 4.5 Authorized No 2.5%

Florida 0.5 No Authorized None

Georgia 1.5 LRR* Yes None

Hawaii 4.5 Authorized Yes 1.0%

Iowa 4 No No 1.5%

Idaho 2 Yes Yes None

Illinois 3 No No 1.2%

Indiana 0.5 No Authorized None

Kansas 0.5 No Authorized None

Kentucky 1.5 LRR* Yes None

Louisiana 0 No No None

Massachusetts 5.5 Authorized Yes 2.4%

Maryland 4 Yes No 1.5 - 1.8%

Maine 2 Authorized Authorized First Resource^

Michigan 3 Authorized Authorized 0.3%, increasing to 1% in 2012

Minnesota 5.5 Authorized Yes 1 - 1.5%

Missouri 0.5 No Authorized None

Mississippi 0 No No None

Montana 1 LRR* Authorized None

North Carolina 2.5 LRR* Yes Up to 0.25% in 2012

North Dakota 0 No No None

Nebraska 0 No No None

New Hampshire 1 No Yes None

New Jersey 0 No No None

New Mexico 3 Authorized Authorized 0.7%

Nevada 3.5 LRR* Yes 0.6%

New York 6 Yes Yes 1.9%

Ohio 3.5 LRR* Yes 1.3%

Oklahoma 1.5 LRR* Yes None

Oregon 1 Yes No None

Pennsylvania 3 No No 1.0%

Rhode Island 4 No Yes 1.05%

South Carolina 1.5 LRR* Yes None

South Dakota 1 No Yes None

Tennessee 0 No No None

Texas 2 No Yes 0.3%

Utah 1 Authorized Authorized None

Virginia 0.5 No Authorized None

Vermont 6 Yes Yes 2.0%

Washington 3 No Yes 1.0%

Wisconsin 2 Yes Yes None

West Virginia 0 No No None

Table 6: 2009 State Utility Policy Scores

* LRR—Alternative lost revenue recovery mechanism in place rather than decoupling.

^ First Resource—Requirement for energy efficiency to serve as the first priority resource in utility planning.

Source: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, “The 2009 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard.” October 2009. Note: Adjustments were made to ACEEE’s 2009 Scorecard. See Appendix for details.

Table 6 compiles

information on utility

polices that were

in place by state

in 2009, including

those that were

authorized by the

state’s legislature

or PUC, but were

not yet implemented

for any utilities.

Although the table

may not accurately

reflect the exact

policy landscape for

each utility in this

report, it is intended

to illustrate the

policies available

by state that might

influence energy

efficiency

investments by

electric utilities.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 30

Utility Parent Company/Common Name Ownership Type Census Region

Weighted

Policy

Score

Relative

Spending

($/MWh)

Relative

Savings

(%)

Long Island Power Authority Long Island Power Authority State Northeast 6.0 $2.38 0.65%

Massachusetts Electric National Grid Investor Owned Northeast 5.5 $4.30 1.14%

Western Massachusetts Electric Northeast Utilities Investor Owned Northeast 5.5 $3.41 0.91%

Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E Investor Owned West 5.0 $4.76 1.85%

Sacramento Municipal Utility District SMUD Political Subdivision West 5.0 $3.09 1.39%

Southern California Edison Edison International Investor Owned West 5.0 $2.67 1.86%

Northern States Power - Minnesota Xcel Investor Owned Midwest 4.9 $1.34 0.92%

Connecticut Light & Power Northeast Utilities Investor Owned Northeast 4.5 $2.13 0.73%

Interstate Power & Light Alliant Energy Investor Owned Midwest 4.1 $2.22 1.09%

Narragansett Electric National Grid Investor Owned Northeast 4.0 $3.57 1.05%

Public Service of Colorado Xcel Investor Owned West 4.0 $1.11 0.54%

Baltimore Gas & Electric Constellation Investor Owned South 4.0 $0.81 0.29%

MidAmerican Energy MidAmerican Investor Owned Midwest 3.9 $1.41 1.08%

Nevada Power NV Energy Investor Owned West 3.5 $1.51 1.55%

Duke Energy Ohio Duke Investor Owned Midwest 3.5 $0.52 0.33%

Ohio Power AEP Investor Owned Midwest 3.5 $0.28 0.53%

Ohio Edison FirstEnergy Investor Owned Midwest 3.5 $0.02 0.00%

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light Municipal West 3.0 $3.15 1.01%

Puget Sound Energy Puget Holdings Investor Owned West 3.0 $2.91 1.29%

Public Service of New Mexico PNM Resources Investor Owned West 3.0 $0.70 0.44%

Consumers Energy CMS Energy Investor Owned Midwest 3.0 $0.63 0.38%

Metropolitan Edison FirstEnergy Investor Owned Northeast 3.0 $0.20 0.02%

Potomac Electric Power Pepco Holdings Investor Owned South 2.9 $0.12 0.20%

Avista Avista Investor Owned West 2.6 $1.96 0.90%

El Paso Electric El Paso Electric Investor Owned South 2.2 $0.51 0.27%

Wisconsin Power & Light Alliant Energy Investor Owned Midwest 2.0 $1.30 0.63%

Austin Energy Austin Energy Municipal South 2.0 $1.24 0.85%

City of San Antonio CPS Energy Municipal South 2.0 $1.00 0.43%

United Electric Coop Service United Electric Coop Service Cooperative South 2.0 $0.06 0.10%

Idaho Power IDACORP Investor Owned West 2.0 $1.49 1.06%

Santee Cooper Santee Cooper State South 1.5 $0.49 0.14%

Fairfield Electric Cooperative Fairfield Electric Cooperative Cooperative South 1.5 $0.13 0.30%

Georgia Power Southern Investor Owned South 1.5 $0.08 0.06%

PacifiCorp MidAmerican Investor Owned West 1.1 $1.08 0.58%

Public Service of New Hampshire Northeast Utilities Investor Owned Northeast 1.0 $1.93 0.62%

Arizona Public Service Pinnacle West Investor Owned West 1.0 $0.91 0.74%

Salt River Project Salt River Project Political Subdivision West 1.0 $0.80 1.11%

Southwestern Electric Power AEP Investor Owned South 0.8 $0.21 0.15%

Tennessee Valley Authority Tennessee Valley Authority Federal South 0.8 $0.74 0.69%

Florida Power & Light NextEra Energy Investor Owned South 0.5 $0.77 0.15%

Lee County Electric Cooperative Lee County Electric Cooperative Cooperative South 0.5 $0.72 0.14%

Progress Energy Florida Progress Energy Investor Owned South 0.5 $0.71 0.23%

Union Electric Ameren Investor Owned Midwest 0.5 $0.38 0.11%

Duke Energy Indiana Duke Investor Owned Midwest 0.5 $0.11 0.05%

Indianapolis Power & Light AES Investor Owned Midwest 0.5 $0.06 0.01%

Lincoln Electric System Lincoln Electric System Municipal Midwest 0.0 $0.35 0.17%

Mississippi Power Southern Investor Owned South 0.0 $0.27 0.03%

Entergy Arkansas Entergy Investor Owned South 0.0 $0.25 0.24%

Omaha Public Power District Omaha Public Power District Political Subdivision Midwest 0.0 $0.14 0.23%

Alabama Power Southern Investor Owned South 0.0 $0.04 0.04%

Table 7: Selected Utilities by 2009 Weighted Average Policy Score
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS 31

Note: Figure 8 identifies utilities with relative spending of $2.00 per megawatt-hour or greater.

Figure 8: Policy Score Comparison by Relative Spending

Figure 9: Policy Score Comparison by Relative Savings

Note: Figure 9 identifies utilities with relative savings of 1.0% or greater.

$5

$4

$3

$2

$1

123456

123456

2.0%

1.5%

1.0%

0.5%

R

elative

Spending ($/M

Wh) R

elative

S

avings (%)

Weighted Average Policy Score

Weighted Average Policy Score

Pacific Gas & Electric

Massachusetts Electric

Narragansett Electric

Western Massachusetts Electric

Seattle City Light

Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Puget Sound Energy

Southern California Edison

Long Island Power Authority

Interstate Power & Light

Connecticut Power & Light

Pacific Gas & Electric

Massachusetts Electric

Narragansett Electric

Southern California Edison

Seattle City Light

Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Puget Sound Energy

MidAmerican Energy

Idaho Power

Interstate Power & Light

Nevada Power

Salt River Project

Pacific Gas

& Electric

Southern California

Edison
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | REGIONAL UPDATES 32

Regional Updates

Total ratepayer-funded energy efficiency program spending in the U.S. is projected to increase from

$5.4 billion in 2009 to $12.4 billion per year in 2020. Much of this increase will be focused in states

that have historically been minor participants in energy efficiency initiatives and where new policies

are being enacted to support this growth.

23 As a result of this rapid ramp-up in energy efficiency

programs, the time lag in EIA data excludes a significant portion of utility energy efficiency spending

and savings. Following are several examples of utilities that have recently launched programs or made

long-term plans that are not reflected in EIA’s 2009 dataset.

Northeast

Since 2009, the Northeast, a well-established efficiency leader, has taken several leaps forward towards

aggressive investment in low-cost efficiency resources. Massachusetts’ electric utilities, including

NSTAR (which did not report energy efficiency data to EIA in 2009), National Grid, Western

Massachusetts Electric (a Northeast Utilities subsidiary), and the municipal aggregator the Cape

Light Compact, will invest more than $8.00 per MWh of retail electricity sales in efficiency (a new

utility program investment high-water mark) and achieve single year savings of 2.4 percent of annual

electricity sales in 2012. In Rhode Island, Narragansett Electric (a National Grid subsidiary) will

achieve single year savings of 2.1 percent and 2.5 percent of annual electric efficiency program savings

in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Connecticut has also established pioneering efficiency policies,

including all cost-effective procurement requirements for electric and natural gas efficiency, and

Connecticut Light & Power has preliminarily proposed saving 2 percent of annual electric energy

consumption through their efficiency programs in 2012.

Southeast

TVA has pledged to become a leader in energy efficiency in the Southeast, recently committing to

achieve 3.5 percent of sales in energy efficiency savings by 2015. Achievements in FY10 toward the

new goal resulted in 211 GWh of energy savings. In FY11, TVA plans to save 550 GWh, more than

twice the savings reported the Authority reported to EIA in 2009.

24 Georgia Power’s 2010 integrated

resource plan also includes a more prominent role for demand side management and energy

efficiency with spending in 2012 ramping up to $21.2 million, and in 2013,spending would increase

to $27.8 million.Arkansas’ Public Service Commission passed a Sustainable Energy Resource Action

Plan in December 2010. The plan establishes electric energy efficiency targets relative to 2010 sales

of 0.25 percent in 2011, 0.5 percent in 2012, and 0.75 percent in 2013. The plan also includes natural

gas reduction targets.In North Carolina and South Carolina, both Duke Energy and Progress Energy

reported better-than-expected results from energy efficiency programs in 2010, achieving higher

energy savings at lower costs while collectively reducing customers’ electricity usage by more than

700 million kWh.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | REGIONAL UPDATES 33

Midwest

In 2008, the Ohio General Assembly passed Amended Substitute SB 221, an omnibus energy bill

which included an energy efficiency standard that ramps up to 1 percent annual savings by 2014 and

2 percent by 2019. This new law has led Ohio utilities, which have traditionally had limited energy

efficiency portfolios, to significantly increase their investment and achievement in energy efficiency.

Ohio Power and Duke Energy Ohio both surpassed the 2010 benchmark of 0.5%, achieving

annualized savings of 167 GWh25 (0.7%) and 311 GWh26 (1.4%),respectively. Ohio Edison, however,

saved only 59 GWh (0.3%) in 201027

, below its statutory benchmark, although the Commission

lowered the benchmark requirements for the company provided that it meet a three-year cumulative

savings requirement of 2 percent from 2010-2012. Illinois utilities Commonwealth Edison and

Ameren have been ramping up energy efficiency efforts since 2008 and will likely achieve 0.8 percent

of annual electricity savings in 2011. Michigan established an energy efficiency target in 2008 that

ramps up to 1 percent annual savings which the state’s electric utilities, including Consumers Energy

and Detroit Edison, have successfully met. With a new energy efficiency standard approved by the

Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission that ramps up to 2% annual savings, Indiana will begin

administering energy efficiency programs in 2012 supplemented by programs from electric utilities

such as Vectren, Duke Energy, Indianapolis Power and Light, NIPSCO, and AEP.

Mid-Atlantic

Pennsylvania utilities have made enormous strides in energy efficiency implementation due to Act

129, which sets energy targets for the state’s electric utilities. Metropolitan Edison reported gross

savings of 176 GWh in its second program year (June 2010 to May 2011), an enormous increase over

its 2009 EIA-reported savings of only 3 GWh.

28

Mountain West

PacifiCorp has completed a new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for its multi-state service area that

includes Utah and Wyoming. The new IRP contains considerably greater energy efficiency and load

management resources than PacifiCorp’s previous IRP.

29 Also, beginning January 1, 2009, PacifiCorp

received approval from the Wyoming Public Service Commission to implement six DSM programs

for residential, commercial and industrial customers over four years. PacifiCorp anticipates spending

about $25 million on these programs and saving 138 GWh per year by 2013.

30 Additionally, under a

settlement agreement with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and other interested parties,

Public Service Colorado (Xcel) will be spending up to $196 million on its demand-side management

programs through 2013.

31

Metropolitan Edison

reported gross

savings of 176 GWh

in its second

program year (June

2010 to May 2011),

an enormous

increase over its

2009 EIA-reported

savings of only

3 GWh.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | REGIONAL UPDATES 34

West

A number of states in this region have made significant policy commitments to energy efficiency as

a resource, which are reflected in their utilities’ resource plans, and several states are encouraging

their utilities to ramp up energy efficiency programs.

32 Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E’s) 2009-2011

energy efficiency plan provides for an aggressive ramp-up of multifaceted programs in the residential,

commercial, and industrial markets, with a proposed total portfolio budget for years 2009-2011 of

$1.8 billion. PG&E’s projected savings between 2009 and 2011 includes a cumulative target of 4,941

GWh in energy savings.

33 In November 2010, the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved

Portland Gas and Electric’s (PGE) 2009 Integrated Resource Plan, which includes 214 average

megawatts of energy efficiency measures, which PGE expects will offset nearly half its load growth

through 2020.

34 As of August 2006, four utilities in the Western U.S.(PSE, PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E),

proposed energy-efficiency programs in their resource plans that projected to offset more than 70

percent of their forecasted energy load growth between 2004 and 2013. Specifically,Avista projected

an 83 percent decline in projected load growth from energy-efficiency programs.

Southwest

In May 2011, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada approved about $58 million in local energyefficiency program costs for NV Energy (of which Nevada Power Company is a subsidiary), allowing

the company to invest in promoting power-conservation measures at homes and businesses.

35

Nevada’s recently amended renewable energy portfolio standard allows energy efficiency to be used

in partial fulfillment of its portfolio requirements. In addition, The Salt River Project Board of

Directors unanimously approved revisions to their Sustainable Portfolio Principles (SPPs). The

revised SPPs establish annual energy efficiency savings targets of 1.5 percent (FY 2012-2014), 1.75

percent (FY 2015-2017), and 2.0 percent (FY 2018-2020).

36

As of August 2006,

four utilities in

the Western U.S.

(PSE, PG&E, SCE,

and SDG&E),

proposed energyefficiency programs

in their resource

plans that projected

to offset more than

70 percent of their

forecasted energy

load growth

between 2004

and 2013.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | DATA SOURCES, ISSUES, AND QUALITY 35

Data Sources, Issues,

and Quality

Data on U.S. ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs are available to the public through the

Energy Information Administration (EIA), various regulatory filings with state authorities, and

voluntary industry and company reporting. Each of these sources comes with its own set of

shortcomings, pitfalls, and caveats.

Sources

EIA-861

Form EIA-861 collects information on the entities involved in transmission, distribution, and

marketing of electricity in the United States. The data collected on this form are used to monitor the

current status and trends of the electric power industry and to evaluate the future of the industry.

37

EIA-861 includes data on utility-administered demand-side management (DSM) programs.

The DSM data from EIA-861 include program expenditures and effects (energy savings) associated

with utility programs. DSM program expenditures are broken down into direct utility costs, incentive

payments to customers, and indirect costs (administration, marketing, monitoring and evaluation,

and utility-earned incentives).

EIA reporting is mandatory, and as such, these data are fairly comprehensive in terms of scope. However,

EIA-861 data take time to be submitted, compiled and released; as such,the mostrecent data available at

any given time date to the year before the previous year. Because energy efficiency programs are rapidly

developing across the nation, this prevents comparing the latest in energy efficiency programs.

The issues with EIA-861 have been noted and discussed by multiple observers.

38,39 Nonetheless, the

EIA-861 survey remains the most suitable data source for benchmarking electric utility efficiency

programs, and stakeholders such as the State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network EM&V

Working Group have offered suggestions for improving it, including: revising certain definitions to

conform with industry standards, improving the clarity and simplicity of the reporting process, and

supporting independent verification of reported data.

CONSORTIUM FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) collects data on energy efficiency programs through a

voluntary annual survey of its member utilities. The survey solicits information on program spending,

future budgets, and savings achieved.CEE partly remedies the time lag problem inherent in the EIA-861

by collecting data on both past year spending and subsequent year budgets, allowing a more up-to-date

look at program expenditures. On the other hand, based on a comparison of CEE-reported budgets for

2009 and the actual spending data reported the next year by CEE, actual expenditures sometimes vary

from reported budgets, indicating that budgets are not always a reliable way to benchmark utilities.

Although CEE’s members have expanded in recent years, along with response rates to the annual

survey, this remains a voluntary effort. Therefore, CEE data cover fewer utilities than EIA.

Furthermore, CEE does not publicly release data on energy savings on an individual utility level,

which limits the usefulness of this resource for benchmarking purposes.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | DATA SOURCES, ISSUES, AND QUALITY 36

REGULATORY FILINGS

Regulated utilities that recover the costs of administering energy efficiency programs through rates

must report their expenditures to the public utility commission (PUC) that determines their rates,

in order to “true up” their expenditures with the amount of money they collect from customers.

Utilities are also often required to file future budgets for PUC approval or for rate-setting purposes.

In addition, utilities subject to regulatory requirements for energy efficiency programs, whether in

regulated or deregulated states, must report data to regulatory bodies to verify compliance. Many

municipal or cooperative utilities that are not subject to state-based rate oversight or efficiency

requirements report energy efficiency data voluntarily in other types of reports. However,regulatory

filings and other reports are often difficult to track down, and have issues with comparability—many

utilities report their spending over a fiscal year that does not match the calendar year, for example,

in addition to the EM&V issue discussed in the “Benchmarking Challenges” section.

Issues

SPENDING

A significant problem with EIA spending data is the way costs are apportioned to energy efficiency and

load management.While direct and incentive costs are reported separately for energy efficiency and load

management,the category“indirect costs”mergesindirect costsfor both,making it difficult to accurately

distinguish total costs between energy efficiency and load management. In order to assign a portion of

indirectspending to efficiency programs,thisreport allocatesindirect costs proportionally between energy

efficiency and load management efforts based on total direct spending in these categories.

Furthermore,EIAdoes not provide clear guidance on howprogram costsshould be allocated among direct

and indirect measures. Utilities vary considerably in what they report as indirect versus direct spending,

depending on the guidelines in each state. This is confirmed through data checks of selected utilities.

IMPACTS

Form 861, EIA collects data on the incremental and annual energy savings and peak load impacts of

utility-administered DSM programs, but the definitions of these data elements limit their usefulness

for benchmarking. EIA defines incremental energy effects as the change in megawatt-hours of energy

consumption that results from new participants in existing programs and all participants in new

programs that began during the reporting year. Utilities are instructed to annualize these impacts in

order to estimate the savings that would have occurred if all measures had been implemented on

January 1 of the reporting year.

Annual savings are defined as the total change in megawatt-hour energy use from all participants in

both new and existing programs. EIA instructs utilities to consider the useful life of efficiency

measures “to the extent possible,” but provides no further guidance on this issue.Additionally, Form

861 requests that utilities use actual savings achieved by new participants and program, rather than

the annualized estimates included for incremental savings, if possible, but the database does indicate

whether utilities reported real or projected annualized savings.

Importantly, annual savings should not be confused with, and are not a proxy for, estimates of

“lifecycle” savings from the efficiency measures implemented in the reporting year. Annual savings

are heavily dependent on the duration of a utility’s energy efficiency program, in addition to funding

levels and effectiveness. In contrast, lifecycle savings can be defined as the total reduction in energy

consumption achieved by an energy efficiency measure over the entire useful life of that measure.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | DATA SOURCES, ISSUES, AND QUALITY 37

Although EIA’s definitions, such as that of “annual savings,” are not well recognized throughout the

energy efficiency industry, this report relies on them to avoid confusion.

In addition to the definitional problems discussed above,there is a great deal of fundamental uncertainty

aboutthe energy savingsreported by utilities.EIAprovideslittle guidance on howto estimate the impacts

of DSM programsfor Form-861.Therefore,utilities may rely on a variety of methodologiesfor evaluating

energy savings,which raises significant issues about the comparability of data submitted to EIA.

COST-EFFECTIVENESS

The data necessary for calculating cost-effectiveness, as well as actual calculations of cost-effectiveness

tests, frequently appear in regulatory filings and other company reports. However, EIA-861 does not

include lifecycle savings,which are required to calculate the true cost of energy saved. Energy savings

arising from an efficiency measure are not realized all at once; up-front spending leads to savings

that are realized over the course of multiple years.

Itwould be possible to calculate the cost of energy saved in the first year of a program being implemented

by dividing energy efficiency expenditures by incrementalsavings,which, at least in theory,represent the

annualized savingsresulting from the expendituresin the program year.But because these savings do not

represent the total energy saved overthe lifetime of a program,this would notresult in a true measure of

the costspent to save a unit of energy.Additionally, concernswith the accuracy of the energy savings data

further reduce confidence in the results of any cost-effectiveness calculations from this data source.

Quality

To determine the accuracy of EIA’s spending and impacts data, efforts were made to cross-check

figures with state regulatory filings and public reports. Spending figures were also compared to CEE

data for utilities that responded to the annual survey. CEE collects but does not publicly release data

on an energy savings achieved. Results of this data-checking effort were mixed.

Although CEE spending figures were generally close to those reported to EIA, this was not always

the case. In some cases, this was due to utilities using a different reporting year for CEE as opposed

to EIA (which uses the calendar year), but in others, the reason for the disparity was unclear.

PUC filings and other public reports—which were available for approximately 65 percent of the

selected utilities in various forms—presented numerous comparability issues. First, the reporting

year over which expenditures were measured varied even more widely for PUC filings and company

reports than in CEE data. For example, Metropolitan Edison reported data for “Program Year 1,”

which ran from June 2009 to May 2010, and Austin Energy reported over a fiscal year from October

2009 to September 2010. Second, many utilities, including Entergy Arkansas, provided spending

figures that included efficiency and load management in a single sum, making it impossible to

determine how much spending went towards energy efficiency alone.

Comparability was also an issue when verifying savings data. About half of the filings and reports

contained savings estimates for the reporting year that were within 10 percent of the incremental

figure included in EIA-861. The remaining reports typically contained only estimates of lifecycle

energy savings. Additionally, as with program spending, some utilities file their annual reports for

activity over a fiscal year or other time period, which caused several inconsistencies.

These issues did not account for the total variation in figures between company reports and EIA data,

however, indicating that there may be errors in the EIA data, or potentially just that accounting

practices vary between how utilities report their spending to regulatory bodies and to EIA.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING METRICS 38

Benchmarking Metrics

This section discusses a number of potential metrics for benchmarking energy efficiency programs

based on spending, impacts, and cost-effectiveness, along with the advantages and disadvantages of

each. Many of the best metrics for comparing energy efficiency programs could not be calculated

using available data. Therefore, the metrics that were selected for this initial round of benchmarking

are not necessarily those that should be used going forward, once data quality is improved.

Spending

Total spending can demonstrate the gross magnitude of energy efficiency program expenditures.

Because spending on energy efficiency varies based on the resources available to the utility, it is also

useful to compare spending using metrics that account for utility size. The following are three possible

ways to normalize utility spending by size:

1. Efficiency spending per customer—This metric normalizes for size to an extent, but can also be

distorted by utilities that primarily serve large industrial customers (these utilities have high

revenues and energy sales, but low customer counts).

2. Efficiency spending per electric revenues—This metric shows the percent of a utility’s revenues

that it spends on energy efficiency, and has the advantage of comparing the same unit (dollars

to dollars). However, due to wide variation in electric rates across the nation, some utilities of

similar size have very different revenues, distorting this metric.

3. Efficiency spending per electric sales—This metric is perhaps the least biased of the three, and

the one we use in our analysis, although varying electricity consumption between utility

territories, due to climatic or other factors, will affect this variable.

There are a number of spending metrics that would also be informative, but for which data are

currently not widely or accurately available. For instance:

1. Customercontribution and totalresource cost—Although utilities sometimes pay for the entirety

of an energy efficiency measure, more often, consumers must pay their own way with some

assistance from the utility.Including customer contribution gives a better idea of the total volume

of efficiency activity, and comparing it to utility contribution demonstrates to what degree the

program depends on customer spending.In addition, total resource cost (customer contribution

and utility contribution combined) is an ideal metric for determining cost-effectiveness, because

it takes into account the entire cost of a measure. This information is not collected by EIA or

CEE, but is sometimes included in PUC filings or other reports.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING METRICS 39

2. Spending by category—Spending on energy efficiency can generally be divided into money

directly paid to customers as incentives, money directly paid to construct or install energy

efficiency measures, and other costs such as marketing and outreach and administrative overhead.

Comparing these categories can show whether programs are putting most of their funding

towards actual implementation of energy efficiency measures, or whether it is being spent mainly

on administration or marketing. EIA breaks down costs into direct and incentive costs for both

efficiency and load management, and has a category for indirect costs that includes both

efficiency and load management. However, the guidance EIA gives on how to apportion costs

into these categories is not extensive, and it is likely that utilities use varying methods to allocate

their spending. Because of the perceived inaccuracy of this metric, we elected not to include it

in our report.

3. Spending by customer class—Efficiency programs are usually designed to target a specific type

of customer class: generally either residential, commercial or industrial. Many utilities also target

programs specifically to low-income customers. These metrics can identify the breadth of

programs offered, and identify where programs are lagging in targeting certain customer

opportunities.CEE provides breakdowns of spending into residential, commercial and industrial,

low-income, and other, and also includes what percent of spending is used for evaluation,

measurement, and verification (EM&V)—but as previously mentioned, the utilities we intended

to measure were not all included in CEE’s data.

Impacts

Below are two potential metrics that could be used to compare the impacts of existing energy

efficiency programs:

1. Annual savings as a percent of sales—This metric can serve as a proxy for the percentage of a

utility’s load that is met using energy efficiency. This percentage might also be interpreted as the

contribution of energy efficiency to a utility’s overall resource mix. While this metric controls

for utility size, there is considerable uncertainty over the baseline year used by utilities.

Furthermore, differences in accounting and assumptions over the useful life of efficiency

measures could skew the results.

2. Incremental savings as a percent of sales—Calculating incremental savings as a percent of total

sales provides a better snapshot of a utility’s current efficiency programs. This metric may be

interpreted as a proxy for reductions in load growth. EERS programs often define utility

requirements in terms of some sort of incremental savings goal. Incremental savings percent is

the least biased metric that is calculable using the EIA-861.

Several additional impacts measures and metrics would enhance the effort to benchmarking

efficiency programs, but limited or unreliable data prevent their use. These include:

1. Lifecycle savings—An estimate of the lifecycle savings from energy efficiency measures

implemented in the reporting year would significantly enhance the power of benchmarking these

programs. Estimates of the full lifetime impact of efficiency measures are necessary for calculating

the true cost of energy efficiency per kilowatt-hour saved. The cost of lifecycle savings would serve

as a measure of cost-effectiveness and allowfor more accurate comparisonsto supply-side resources.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | BENCHMARKING METRICS 40

2. Savings per program participant—Energy savings per program participant is a measure of

effectiveness. It disregards the size of utilities and focuses on the benefits to the consumers that

take advantage of energy efficiency programs.

3. Energy bill savings—Energy bill savings can be estimated using annual savings and average

electric utility rates by customer class. However, this metric would be skewed towards larger

utilities with long-standing programs and relatively high rates.

4. Energy or bill savings per customer—Calculating energy or bill savings per customer seeks to

control for the size of utilities when comparing impacts. However, as with spending, this metric

would favor utilities that serve primarily large industrial customers. Furthermore, calculating

bill savings per customer would be biased towards utilities with high rates,similar to the measure

of total bill savings.

5. Emissions savings—One co-benefit of energy efficiency that is receiving increased state and

federal attention is the potential environmental co-benefits of energy efficiency, including

emission reductions. In some states, utilities estimate the emissions savings as a component of

annual reports on their efficiency programs.Another potential application of such data is use in

State Implementation Plans (SIPs) that are submitted to EPA for compliance with air quality

regulations. EPA recently issued preliminary guidance to assist states in quantifying the emissions

impacts of renewable energy and energy efficiency for inclusion in SIPs.

40

Cost-Effectiveness

There are three main approaches to determining cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency programs:

cost of saved energy, cost-benefit ratio, and net benefits. Cost of saved energy measures the amount

of money spent (by the utility, the consumer, or both) to save a unit of energy. This metric allows

comparison of utilities to one another, as well as comparison of the cost of saved energy to the costs

of supply-side resources.Cost of saved energy can be calculated by dividing the cost of implementing

an energy efficiency measure or program by the lifecycle energy savings realized by that program.

41

Cost-benefit ratio compares the cost of an energy efficiency measure (again, to the utility, the

consumer, or both) to the monetary value of the benefits to the ratepayer, utility, and/or society

realized by implementing it. “Net benefits” is a similar metric, and is calculated by subtracting the

total cost of a program from its monetized benefits. These metrics allow stakeholders to determine

whether the monetary benefits of an energy efficiency program outweigh the costs, and the quantity

of benefits they are providing to the consumer.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | DATA RECOMMENDATIONS 41

Data Recommendations

Publicly available energy efficiency data do not currently meetthe needs ofstakeholdersseeking to compare

utilities by spending, energy savings,or cost-effectiveness.Either EIAorCEE could readily fillthis data void

through a fewsimple but fundamental changesto their existing data collection framework.A more robust,

comprehensive, and public datasetwould facilitate future benchmarking efforts and provide stakeholders

with more useful information regarding the effectiveness of energy efficiency programs.

The recommendations below are meant to assist future data collection efforts, by EIA, CEE, or other

organizations. Adhering to these guidelines and recommendations would address many of the issues

confronted during the development of this report and facilitate greater engagement among stakeholders.

u Provide clear guidelines on cost apportionment, and separate efficiency and load

management. If project costs are divided into categoriessuch as direct, incentive, and indirect,

clear guidance should be given as to what expenditures belong in what category. No costs for

efficiency and load management programs should be listed together, if possible, and spending

on electric and natural gas programs should also be separate.

 Include detailed spending information. Including spending by customer class, spending

on low-income programs, and customerspending would allow a deeper understanding of utility

programs, better cost-effectiveness comparisons, and easier identification of undeveloped

opportunities.

 Require reporting of future budgets. Given that utility energy efficiency programs are rapidly

ramping up across the nation, inclusion of future budgets would allow comparison of utilities

that have not yet begun programs, or whose programs are scheduled to change dramatically in

the future.

 Provide clear guidance for estimating efficiency savings. Clear guidance for how to

estimate energy savings from efficiency measures would ensure that comparisons between

utilities are valid.

 Include estimates of lifecycle savings. Lifecycle savings from energy efficiency are critical for

determining the full impact of measures and programs. While lifecycle estimates for current year

efforts necessarily depend on a range of assumptions, clear guidance on estimation methodswould

ensure a consistent approach and improve comparability. Guidelines on lifecycle estimates could

be included in a broader effort to update reporting requirements.

 Require utilities to report the number of program participants by class. While less

integral than other recommendations, this would facilitate more in-depth analysis of program

effectiveness and consumer benefits.

 Collect data on third-party administrators. Collecting detailed data on programs

administered by third parties, including which utilities’ customers are served and funding

provided by each utility,would enable more direct comparisons between third-party and utilityadministered programs.

 Publicly release all administrator-level data.In orderto increase transparency and facilitate

stakeholder involvement, all administrator-level data should be publicly released. This would

allow stakeholders to conduct independent analyses of the data and draw conclusions to move

the policy discussion forward.
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | ENDNOTES 42

Endnotes

1 For more information on energy efficiency policies see www.epa.gov/eeactionplan and

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/seeaction/

2 Caracino J, Nevius M, Fesler L. The State of the Efficiency Program Industry: 2009 Expenditures, Impacts & 2010

Budgets. Consortium for Energy Efficiency, December 10, 2010. http://www.cee1.org/ee-pe/2010AIR.php3.

3 David Roland-Horst (2008), Energy Efficiency, Innovation, and Job Creation in California

4 McKinsey & Company. 2009, Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy.

http://www.mckinsey.com/en/Client_Service/Electric_Power_and_Natural_Gas/Latest_thinking/Unlocking_energy

_efficiency_in_the_US_economy.aspx

5 McKinsey & Company. 2009, Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy.

http://www.mckinsey.com/en/Client_Service/Electric_Power_and_Natural_Gas/Latest_thinking/Unlocking_energy

_efficiency_in_the_US_economy.aspx

6 American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). 2010 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. Research

Report E107. October 13, 2010. http://www.aceee.org/research-report/e107

7 Barbose G, Goldman C, Schlegel J. 2009. The Shifting Landscape of Ratepayer-Funded Energy Efficiency in the U.S.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report LBNL-2258E, October 2009.

8 Caracino J, Nevius M, Fesler L. The State of the Efficiency Program Industry: 2009 Expenditures, Impacts & 2010

Budgets. Consortium for Energy Efficiency, December 10, 2010. http://www.cee1.org/ee-pe/2010AIR.php3.

9 Energy Information Administration. 2009. Annual Electric Utility Data 2009 (Form EIA-861).

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/eia861.html

10 Energy Information Administration. 2009. Annual Electric Generator Report 2009 (Form EIA-860).

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/eia860.html

11 Capital costs for new generating capacity were estimated using data from the National Renewable Energy

Laboratory: http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/costs.html

12 Friedrich K, Eldridge M, York D, Witte P, and Kushler M. Saving Energy Cost-Effectively: A National Review of the

Cost of Energy Saved through Utility-Sector Energy Efficiency Programs. ACEEE Research Report U092, September

2009. http://www.aceee.org/research-report/u092

13 Energy Information Administration. 2011. Levelized Cost of New Generation Resources in the Annual Energy

Outlook 2011. http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/aeo/pdf/2016levelized_costs_aeo2011.pdf

14 Schiller S, Goldman C, Galawish E. National Energy Efficiency Evaluation, Measurement, and Verification (EM&V)

Standard: Scoping Study of Issues and Implementation Requirements. April 2011. Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory Report LBNL-4265E. April 2011. http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/emp/reports/lbnl-4265e.pdf

15 For more information on the RTF see http://www.nwcouncil.org/energy/rtf/Default.htm

16 For more information on the NEEP EM&V Forum see http://www.neep.org/emv-forum

17 For more information on NAESB see http://www.naesb.org/dsm-ee.asp

18 For more information on SEE Action see http://www1.eere.energy.gov/seeaction/evaluation.html

19 American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy (ACEEE). Carrots for Utilities: Providing Financial Returns for

Utility Investments in Energy Efficiency. ACEEE Research Report U111. January 24, 2011.

http://www.aceee.org/research-report/u111

20 American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy (ACEEE). State Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS)

Fact Sheet: Updated December 2010. ACEEE Fact Sheet. December 20, 2010. http://www.aceee.org/fact-sheet/stateenergy-efficiency-resource-standard-eers-fact-sheet-u

21 Institute for Electric Efficiency, Integrating Codes and Standards into Electric Utility Energy Efficiency Portfolios, IEE

Whitepaper August 2011.

http://www.edisonfoundation.net/iee/reports/IEE_IntegratingC&SintoEEPortfolios_final.pdf
BENCHMARKING ELECTRIC UTILITY ENERGY EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIOS IN THE U.S. | ENDNOTES 43

22 CEE, 2010. Figure is the sum of Efficiency Maine, Efficiency Vermont, Energy Trust of Oregon, Focus on Energy

(Wisconsin), Hawaii Energy Efficiency Program, NJ Clean Energy Program, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance,

NYSERDA, Public Interest Energy Research of Energy Services.

23 Barbose G, Goldman C, and Schlegel J. 2009. The Shifting Landscape of Ratepayer-Funded Energy Efficiency in the U.S.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Report, October 2009. http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/lbnl-2258e.pdf.

24 Tennessee Valley Authority. 2011. Integrated Resource Plan, Appendix C—Energy Efficiency and Demand Response.

http://www.tva.gov/environment/reports/irp/pdf/Final_IRP_complete.pdf

25 http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/TiffToPDf/A1001001A11C16B01033E02752.pdf

26 http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/TiffToPDf/A1001001A11C15B62659C48525.pdf

27 FirstEnergy Ohio. 2011. Report of the Status of 2010 Energy Efficiency and Peak Demand Reduction Benchmarks.

http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/DocumentRecord.aspx?DocID=88b2f213-51e0-4d11-a14f-7f6d42ee614c

28 Metropolitan Edison. 2011. Annual Report to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (Program Year 2).

http://www.puc.state.pa.us//pcdocs/1140182.pdf

29 PacifiCorp.

http://www.pacificorp.com/content/dam/pacificorp/doc/Energy_Sources/Integrated_Resource_Plan/2011IRP/2011I

RP-MainDocFinal_Vol1-FINAL.pdf

30 Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. Wyoming, Utility Energy Efficiency Programs.

http://www.swenergy.org/programs/utilities/wyoming.htm

31 Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. Colorado, Utility Energy Efficiency Programs.

http://www.swenergy.org/programs/utilities/colorado.htm

32 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Energy Efficiency in Western Utility Resource Plans: Impacts on Regional

Resource Assessment and Support for WGA Policies. August 2006. http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/58271.pdf

33 California Public Utilities Commission. Amended Application Of Pacific Gas And Electric Company For Approval

Of The 2009-2011 Energy Efficiency Programs And Budget. March 2, 2009.

https://www.pge.com/regulation/EnergyEfficiency2009-2011-Portfolio/Pleadings/PGE/2009/EnergyEfficiency2009-

2011-Portfolio_Plea_PGE_20090302-01.pdf

34 Portland General Electric, Issues in Perspective: Integrated Resource Plan. November 2009.

http://www.portlandgeneral.com/our_company/news_issues/current_issues/docs/ip_irp.pdf

35 Nevada Public Utility Commission. Docket No. 10-10024. Application of Nevada Power Company d/b/a NV Energy

to establish interim base energy efficiency program rates and base energy efficiency implementation rates pursuant

to NRS 704.785 and the Order issued in Docket No. 09-07016. June 29, 2011, and Robison, Jennifer. “NV Energy

Wins Rate Increase.” Las Vegas Review Journal. May 24, 2011. http://www.lvrj.com/business/nv-energy-wins-rateincrease-122460789.html

36 Draft Resolution Of The Board Of Directors Of The Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement And Power

District Regarding Revisions To Sustainable Portfolio Principles. May 23, 2011.

http://www.srpnet.com/environment/earthwise/pdfx/spp/May23/FinalDraftResolution.pdf

37 Energy Information Administration, 2009. Annual Electric Utility Data 2009 (Form EIA-861).

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/eia861.html.

38 Michael Reid. 2009. “Using U.S. Energy Information Administration Data to Benchmark Electric Utility DSM

Portfolios.” Paper presented at the 2009 International Energy Efficiency Program Evaluation Conference, June 2009,

Portland, OR. http://www.iepec.org/2009PapersTOC/papers/036.pdf#page=1

39 American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy (ACEEE). Where Have All the Data Gone? The Crisis of Missing

Energy Efficiency Data. Research Report E101. February 1, 2010. http://www.aceee.org/research-report/e101

40 US EPA, Quantifying Emission Impacts of Clean Energy Initiatives, http://epatechforum.org/documents/2010-

2011/2010-2011.html

41 See 2009 ACEEE report for CSE formula: http://www.aceee.org/research-report/u092