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| Energy Efficiency Resource Standard | |
|---|---|
| Name | Energy Efficiency Resource Standard |
| Type | Policy instrument |
Energy Efficiency Resource Standard
An Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) is a regulatory policy that mandates quantified energy savings targets for utilities, United States Department of Energy programs, California Energy Commission initiatives and other statehood authorities, integrating utility regulation, Public Utility Commissions, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission frameworks. EERS mechanisms align with resource planning practices used by NERC, International Energy Agency, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Commission policy tools and United Nations Environment Programme guidance to reduce demand, defer infrastructure, and meet emissions targets in conjunction with institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
EERS defines mandatory or incentivized savings goals enforced through oversight by bodies like the New York Public Service Commission, California Public Utilities Commission, Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, Maryland Public Service Commission and comparable regulators. The purpose is to treat energy efficiency as a resource alongside generation assets used by planners such as PJM Interconnection, California Independent System Operator, Electric Reliability Council of Texas and Midcontinent Independent System Operator to meet capacity needs, manage peak demand, and integrate with markets administered by entities like New York Independent System Operator and ISO New England.
EERS emerged alongside demand-side management programs promoted by entities including American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Alliance to Save Energy, Rockefeller Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, and advocacy from organizations such as Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense Fund. Early adopters included states modeled after initiatives in California during regulatory reforms influenced by events like the California electricity crisis and federal acts such as the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and Energy Policy Act of 2005. Internationally, parallels appeared in programs coordinated by the European Union under directives influenced by the Kyoto Protocol and later by commitments negotiated at the Paris Agreement summit.
Design features include target-setting, compliance mechanisms, cost-recovery rules, and incentive structures administered by entities like the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and implemented by utilities such as Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Con Edison, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, and Southern Company. Markets and regulators may apply performance incentives used in Texas or integrated resource planning methods used by Vermont to allocate program funding. Implementation tools draw on standards and testing from ASHRAE, Underwriters Laboratories, ISO, and deployment partnerships with manufacturers like General Electric and Siemens for appliance, building envelope, and industrial measures.
M&V protocols reference methods developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and guidance from North American Energy Standards Board and IPMVP. Evaluation often involves randomized control trials, engineering estimates, billing analysis, and approaches used in federal programs administered by U.S. Department of Energy and assessed by audit bodies like the Government Accountability Office. Reliability practices tie to grid planners such as NERC and FERC to verify contribution to capacity, with statistical approaches employed by research centers at MIT, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University.
Empirical studies by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Institute, International Energy Agency, and McKinsey & Company detail impacts on reduced electricity consumption, lowered peak demand, avoided generation and transmission investments, and interactions with carbon accounting favored by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Utilities including National Grid plc, Edison International, Enel, and EDF have documented resource deferral and bill impacts, while analysts from BloombergNEF, IEA and The World Resources Institute quantify macroeconomic and emissions co-benefits. Energy efficiency portfolios also intersect with programs run by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency such as Energy Star, and initiatives by European Investment Bank financing.
Notable regional programs include state EERS policies in California, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, and Maryland, utility programs from Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Con Edison, and national schemes in United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, and Japan. Internationally, mechanisms are integrated with European Union directives, China national five-year plans implemented by agencies like the National Development and Reform Commission, and programs financed by World Bank projects and bilateral assistance from agencies such as United States Agency for International Development.
Critiques arise from stakeholders including trade associations such as American Petroleum Institute and utility lobbying groups like the Edison Electric Institute over cost-recovery and rate impacts, contested evaluations by consultants such as Navigant and debates in regulatory venues like Public Utilities Fortnightly. Disputes include free-ridership measurement, rebound effects debated in literature from Harvard University, Yale University, and Columbia University, distributional equity concerns raised by advocates like Natural Resources Defense Council, and legal challenges adjudicated in state courts and administrative proceedings of commissions like California Public Utilities Commission and New York Public Service Commission.