As renewable resources rise to new heights in cities and states nationwide, it’s good to remember we still have a distance to climb. Getting to 100% clean energy by any definition within 30 years or less will take a full toolbox of renewable generation on every scale, along with emerging innovations in load flexibility and storage. It’s a thrilling challenge. But there’s no need to raise the mountain, by ignoring energy efficiency options. It’s a good time to remind ourselves that the cheapest, smartest energy is the energy you don’t use, thanks to energy efficiency improvements.
I’ve adhered to this principal for decades. And I’ve had the pleasure of diving back into energy efficiency periodically, as I’ve led periodic updates to consumer outreach materials for the American Public Power Association. These include guides that APPA member utilities can provide to their residential and small-business customers, and a new version in Spanish.
The biggest surprise in our recent research? Over the past five to ten years, energy efficiency has become the success story that hardly anyone knows. And many public agencies, utilities and non-profits are complicit—if inadvertently—because they have not replaced outdated information from websites and handouts.
I’ve adhered to this principal for decades. And I’ve had the pleasure of diving back into energy efficiency periodically, as I’ve led periodic updates to consumer outreach materials for the American Public Power Association. These include guides that APPA member utilities can provide to their residential and small-business customers, and a new version in Spanish.
The biggest surprise in our recent research? Over the past five to ten years, energy efficiency has become the success story that hardly anyone knows. And many public agencies, utilities and non-profits are complicit—if inadvertently—because they have not replaced outdated information from websites and handouts.
A quick web search for energy-efficient lighting turned up this mess of outdated graphics. But yesterday's news weighs on progress in the current race to clean energy.
As a result, it’s all too easy for clean energy skeptics to leverage damaging disinformation. Last fall, President Trump introduced a roll-back of lighting efficiency standards with a rambling commentary on compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). In addition to his complaints about the price of these “new bulbs,” the President said, “(and) if they break it’s considered a hazardous waste site.” This exaggeration, referring to a small amount of mercury in the CFL lamps, was unwarranted, but more to the point, CFLs were already practically gone from the market. By the first quarter of 2019, CFLs accounted for less than 5% of all light bulb sales, according to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. Top manufacturers, including GE, had stopped making them. Today, the market is flush with LEDs that come in an array of color tones and brightness and offer features from three-way switching to remote controls. In 2017, U.S. EPA Energy Star partners published an early report on this remarkable market transformation, called The Light Bulb Revolution.
According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the current rollback on lighting standards could cost U.S. consumers an extra $14 billion on energy bills annually and raise energy generation needs.
But here’s the thing: utilities and our clean energy allies still use the CFL as the icon for energy efficiency and “green living.” Just Google “energy efficient light bulb cartoon.” Or grab a chart off a similar Google search, comparing light bulb choices. You’re likely to get an eight to 10 year old graphic, estimating LED prices at $10 to $25 a piece. Local agencies still use these charts and cite them at outreach events. Yet the cost of LEDs today is less than one-tenththeir cost in 2012, and the quality and versatility of LEDs is incomparable to earlier generations of these lamps. If we experts don’t spread the good news about energy efficiency, who will?
Energy advances related to other appliances and electronics are similarly under-reported and consequently, their potential benefits are under-realized. For example, big-screen TVs were frightening energy hogs in the early 2000s. But today, large-screen plasma TVs are no longer on the market. They’ve been replaced by backlit LED TVs and new technologies, such as new High-Dynamic Range (HDR) TVs and Organic Light-Emitting-Diode (OLED) TVs. Gamers need to know they have new affordable options—and that a few minutes spent on their system’s control settings might save them enough to pay for a new game release. Unfortunately, this information is not top of mind for gamers or for any energy user—and readily available information is out of date or buried on the U.S. EPA website.
One Google search I found especially disheartening was a search for updates on plug loads, or what we used to call “Energy Vampires.” It was President George W. Bush who first popularized that term in the early 2000s and took aim at electronic devices that sucked electricity whenever they were plugged in, whether operating or not. After the term showed up in a State of the Union address, policymakers and manufacturers stepped up, and today, electronics from laptops to smart speakers draw a relative pin-prick of power. (According to ESource, the Google Home smart speaker draws about 2 Watts in idle mode and the Echo draws just under 3; most charging devices draw less than 1 Watt.) Yet I’m going to bet a lot of energy agencies are still handing out factsheets about the shameless energy demand of fax machines, VCRs and Ti-Vos. You can flash back, looking at a still-posted Lawrence Berkeley National Labs (LBNL) website on standby energy needs, which has references listed from as far back as the 1990s, and none more recent than 2008.
According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the current rollback on lighting standards could cost U.S. consumers an extra $14 billion on energy bills annually and raise energy generation needs.
But here’s the thing: utilities and our clean energy allies still use the CFL as the icon for energy efficiency and “green living.” Just Google “energy efficient light bulb cartoon.” Or grab a chart off a similar Google search, comparing light bulb choices. You’re likely to get an eight to 10 year old graphic, estimating LED prices at $10 to $25 a piece. Local agencies still use these charts and cite them at outreach events. Yet the cost of LEDs today is less than one-tenththeir cost in 2012, and the quality and versatility of LEDs is incomparable to earlier generations of these lamps. If we experts don’t spread the good news about energy efficiency, who will?
Energy advances related to other appliances and electronics are similarly under-reported and consequently, their potential benefits are under-realized. For example, big-screen TVs were frightening energy hogs in the early 2000s. But today, large-screen plasma TVs are no longer on the market. They’ve been replaced by backlit LED TVs and new technologies, such as new High-Dynamic Range (HDR) TVs and Organic Light-Emitting-Diode (OLED) TVs. Gamers need to know they have new affordable options—and that a few minutes spent on their system’s control settings might save them enough to pay for a new game release. Unfortunately, this information is not top of mind for gamers or for any energy user—and readily available information is out of date or buried on the U.S. EPA website.
One Google search I found especially disheartening was a search for updates on plug loads, or what we used to call “Energy Vampires.” It was President George W. Bush who first popularized that term in the early 2000s and took aim at electronic devices that sucked electricity whenever they were plugged in, whether operating or not. After the term showed up in a State of the Union address, policymakers and manufacturers stepped up, and today, electronics from laptops to smart speakers draw a relative pin-prick of power. (According to ESource, the Google Home smart speaker draws about 2 Watts in idle mode and the Echo draws just under 3; most charging devices draw less than 1 Watt.) Yet I’m going to bet a lot of energy agencies are still handing out factsheets about the shameless energy demand of fax machines, VCRs and Ti-Vos. You can flash back, looking at a still-posted Lawrence Berkeley National Labs (LBNL) website on standby energy needs, which has references listed from as far back as the 1990s, and none more recent than 2008.
TVs have changed. Even in the past 10 years, plasma TVs have been replaced by LED options.
Granted, our federal agencies are not making it easy to get the good news out today. Nor are they helping to address new challenges, such as the need for clean electrification, load flexibility, resilience and other concerns The U.S. EPA Energy Star Program escaped the ax for 2020 with the budget passed by Congress and signed late last year. Yet the plan is to roll back standards and create evasive efficiency loopholes for everything from lighting options to air conditioners, furnaces and dishwashers. It is further to “privatize” Energy Star in step with year-on-year reductionsproposed for the program’s estimated $46 million budget. Already, it is harder to find the Energy Star prominently displayed and explained, when you shop for whatever you’re about to plug in. I’d suggest that every organization that has a stake in this game should set aside a little time to audit the energy efficiency information it is sharing, to highlight the good stuff, and most especially, to wipe badly outdated stuff from the web.
Advocates say they are formulating legal strategies to delay the demise of energy efficiency standards, but the first step is to make sure the media and your energy customers have the facts. Reportedly, appliance and electronics manufacturers would like to stick to the plans they’ve been ramping up for years, to help meet clean energy and modernization goals. Let’s do what we can to preserve their chances to win in a free and fair market. Update your facts. And give a skeptic a warm, bright LED, preferably with the current price tag attached. Let’s spread the word that clean energy is not only do-able; it’s close at hand.
Contact us today, to discuss an audit and update of your energy outreach materials.
Advocates say they are formulating legal strategies to delay the demise of energy efficiency standards, but the first step is to make sure the media and your energy customers have the facts. Reportedly, appliance and electronics manufacturers would like to stick to the plans they’ve been ramping up for years, to help meet clean energy and modernization goals. Let’s do what we can to preserve their chances to win in a free and fair market. Update your facts. And give a skeptic a warm, bright LED, preferably with the current price tag attached. Let’s spread the word that clean energy is not only do-able; it’s close at hand.
Contact us today, to discuss an audit and update of your energy outreach materials.