Bringing Energy Productivity to Scale

Advanced technologies make it possible for our economies to become ever more productive while consuming less energy with each passing year. The growing suite of technology options on the “demand side” of the energy meter—high-efficiency lighting, appliances, heating and cooling, industrial processes, and price-induced demand response—reduce wasteful and low-value energy use. These tools enable a greater reliance on renewable energy resources by bringing a greater flexibility to the management of the grid.

The untapped potential for energy efficiency is also the lowest-cost means of achieving greenhouse gas reductions.

Key Facts

Energy efficiency can meet 30% of U.S. electricity demand over ten years. Source

A kilowatt-hour avoided by end-use energy efficiency is worth, on average, 18 cents. Source

Efficiency could achieve 40% of the reductions needed to meet the Paris Agreement. Source

Our Focus

The RAP team helps policymakers find ways to overcome institutional and market barriers to capturing cost-effective efficiency and demand response resources. Our recommended strategies include creating energy efficiency obligations; recognizing efficiency as a resource in utility planning processes and air quality management; and designing regulations that break the link between a utility's energy sales and the revenue it collects.