Energy efficiency provisions in the American Clean Energy Security Act (ACES - H.R. 2454) with improvements could create more than 569,000 new jobs nationwide in the next ten years and provide $283 in annual savings for every  household in America, according to a new study released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).  By 2030, these benefits could increase to more than one million jobs and $832 in annual savings per household - all while reducing government-projected levels of nationwide carbon emissions by 15 percent, or 959 million metric tons.

The new report, “Energy Efficiency in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009: Impacts of Current Provisions and Opportunities to Enhance the Legislation,” underscores the energy efficiency potential - and accompanying benefits - still available as the Senate considers energy and climate legislation. In fact, the examined improvements would result in 48 percent more jobs and 32 percent more consumer savings than the 383,800 jobs and $215 in annual household savings in 2020 than the energy efficiency provisions of ACES, the original House bill, would provide.

“Energy efficiency may not be as hot a topic as cap-and-trade, but it certainly gets the job done when it comes to saving consumers money and creating jobs,” stated Steven Nadel, ACEEE’s Executive Director and co-author of the report. “As our report shows, the Senate can boost those benefits by improving the energy efficiency provisions of the Waxman-Markey bill.”

These improvements would bring economic and environmental benefits to every state in the country. State results of the ACEEE study were released at over forty-five nationwide events organized by Environment America and a broad network of businesses, faith and community leaders, and clean energy advocates. See state-by-state breakdowns athttp://www.aceee.org/energy/national/50states.htm.  

“We are one of a growing number of companies who recognize that energy efficiency means more jobs, lower costs, reduced emissions, and competitive advantage.  Efficiency can bring economic benefits to every community in America - and we’re proud to work with ACEEE to tap into that incredible potential,” said Mark Wagner, Vice President of Johnson Controls, Inc.

Improvements to ACES considered in ACEEE’s analysis are:

• Strengthening the Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) that sets a 10% energy savings goal for electric utility companies. (ACES includes a 5% EERS with an optional 3% increase.)
• Requiring one-third of the electric utility allowances to be used for energy efficiency improvements as are the natural gas allowances in ACES. 
• Extending the allocation of 9.5% of carbon allowance revenue to the State Energy and Environmental Development (SEED) fund to 2030. (ACES ramps down SEED fund spending beginning in 2016.)

“These cost-effective improvements would accelerate the energy efficiency benefits of the bill by a decade, bringing big savings to American families and businesses,” concluded Suzanne Watson, ACEEE’s Policy Director.

While this study did not consider the impact on consumers of the cap-and-trade provisions in ACES, the annual household consumer savings from the energy efficiency provisions analyzed in the study would more than offset EPA’s projected consumer cost of the cap-and-trade provisions in ACES, bringing net savings to Americans.

For More Information: GLOBE-Net