California earns No. 1 ranking as most energy-efficient state

California ranked No. 1 in energy efficiency according to a new survey by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

ACEEE’s 2022 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard found that California came in first place among all 50 states and Washington, DC, in terms of being the most energy-efficient and reducing greenhouse gases. It scored 47 out of a possible 50 points.

“California is proud to be recognized for our national energy leadership and is committed to continuing to advance the technologies of the future to make saving energy even easier,” said Andrew McAllister of the California Energy Commission. “Governor Gavin Newsom’s historic $54 billion budget commitment will help sustain the clean energy transition for years to come while showing that strong clean energy policy and economic prosperity go hand in hand.”

Massachusetts ranked second, followed by New York, Vermont, Maine, Washington, DC, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Minnesota. Each of these states has enacted major clean energy laws in recent years and expanded energy efficiency efforts to achieve climate goals.

Also, this year’s scorecard has an expanded focus on equitable energy efficiency policies that reduce energy burdens for low-income households and historically underserved communities. California, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington were among the states that performed best in this metric.

“The clean energy transition will only be successful if we ensure it benefits everyone, including low-income and disadvantaged communities while addressing historic patterns of injustice. Because of the severity of the climate crisis, even leading states must take bolder action for the United States to meet its climate targets of at least 50 percent GHG emissions reductions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050,” Sagarika Subramanian, senior research analyst at ACEEE and lead author of the report, said.

In addition, the report shows that California, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Washington, DC have moved to align their energy and climate goals with fuel-neutral energy savings targets that can encourage electrification with measures like installing heat pumps.

Maine made the biggest improvement since the last scorecard, moving up 11 spots to No. 5. The state set a goal to weatherize 35,000 homes and businesses and to heat at least 115,000 homes with high-efficiency electric heat pumps by 2030.

“As the most heating-oil-dependent state in the country, and with our electricity grid over-reliant on natural gas, improving energy efficiency in Maine is essential for cutting costs for Maine households while also curbing harmful carbon emissions,” said Governor Janet Mills. “This recognition by ACEEE affirms Maine’s leadership on energy efficiency, which is even more critical now given the unprecedented energy prices our region is experiencing since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

South Carolina saw the steepest drop in the rankings, falling to 49th place. South Carolina lost points for allowing industrial, manufacturing, and retail commercial customers to opt-out of energy efficiency programs. Other downward movers include Ohio, which fell seven spots to 44th place.

The State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, now in its 15th edition, is based on data collected from state utility commissions and state energy offices as well as publicly available data. The full report can be found on ACEEE’s website.