Helping States Meet Efficiency Targets

RAP recently helped Arizona regulators put their state on a long-term course to grow energy efficiency savings to levels as high as anywhere in the US, working with the Arizona Corporation Commission to achieve a 22% reduction in electricity demand by the year 2020 (based on 2010 numbers). To reach this goal, regulators had to develop a framework for utility investment in energy efficiency, together with a cost-recovery mechanism for those investments – all while assuring that utility shareholders were not adversely affected.

RAP, in partnership with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, helped the commission develop a cost recovery/shareholder incentive/revenue decoupling framework that will result in an estimated $5.5 billion in consumer savings over the next decade. With RAP’s assistance, Arizona also adopted a new integrated resource planning rule that includes consideration of societal benefits and costs that will support more investment in clean energy resources.

Arizona is just one of many states where RAP has worked to achieve significant efficiency savings.