Even though we have access to better technologies every year, some aspects of our energy efficiency have actually fallen in recent years, such as driving in bigger cars and living in bigger homes. The recently enacted energy restructuring law seeks to promote energy efficiency programs that are economically and environmentally sound. With deregulation of the electric industry, most New Jersey residents are now able to choose where their electricity comes from and how it is made. Consumers can now choose electricity that is produced from renewable resources rather than by fossil fuel combustion or nuclear energy. . This indicator measures how many dollars our economy produces for each unit of energy consumed.
Energy efficiency is a measure of economic competitiveness.
Getting more out of each unit of energy means paying less when we heat our homes, drive our cars, purchase products, and run our industries. Those savings can become an investment in new businesses, in education, and in new technologies. Economic Efficient businesses have a powerful advantage over their inefficient competitors. They pay less when they buy energy and then pay less again when they are spared from expensive cleanup of pollution. Fluctuations in the price of fuel have less effect on efficient companies, and government regulators have less need to focus on them.