Energy efficiency: The cleanest, most affordable resource
The smarter, more modern way to meet our energy needs
As we work for a cleaner and lower carbon energy future, maximizing energy efficiency—using less energy to perform the same function—is one of the easiest, cleanest, and most affordable resources to achieve this goal.
Energy efficiency helps to defer or avoid the need for expensive new power plants, reduce carbon emissions and other air pollution, and create local jobs. Yet utilities in the South lag behind the rest of the country in making energy efficiency more widely accessible to customers.
Energy efficiency programs provide incentives to install more efficient lighting and appliances or technologies like smart thermostats or power strips that reduce power use. Similar to efficiency programs, weatherization programs upgrade the home by installing insulation, weather stripping, and sealing leaky air ducts. These programs and measures allow customers to take more control of their energy use and save money on electric bills, while driving down costs across the board.
Our strategy for the South’s transition to a cleaner energy future includes promoting energy efficiency for its many benefits, making the business case to utilities and regulators, and working with utilities to create financial models that remove disincentives to pursue efficiency and encourage customers to save energy.
Alleviating energy burden
“Energy efficiency programs empower households and businesses to reduce their electricity bills without sacrificing comfort or performance. Electric utilities in the South could save their customers billions of dollars—and reduce or avoid the need to build new power plants and burn fossil fuels—simply by offering more attractive and comprehensive energy efficiency programs.”
Advancing energy efficiency
We advocate for robust, inclusive energy efficiency programs and policies, with the goal to reduce retail electricity sales by 1 percent every year in our region. We believe every utility in our region should provide customers with access to robust energy efficiency programs and other offerings with the necessary funding and resources.
Our focus includes aggressive but achievable utility energy savings targets, policies, regulations, and legislation to promote efficiency, and cost-effective efficiency programs to achieve those targets. SELC’s advocacy includes testifying before utility commissions, as well as engagement with legislatures and the utilities themselves to ensure that all customer sectors are able to reap the benefits of efficiency.
We advocate for comprehensive utility programs and policies to provide customers with opportunities and incentives to upgrade lighting, heating and cooling systems, and insulation. We work to implement programs, policies, and regulations that allow Southern communities to more widely reap energy bill savings and other benefits of energy efficiency.
