As the European Union charts its energy policy for 2030, the principle of “Efficiency First” has emerged as a critical tool to improve energy security, lower emissions, address energy poverty, and empower consumers. RAP is delivering a series of papers and organizing a special workshop on policies to ensure that the Winter Package incorporates Efficiency First principles across the suite of legislative initiatives now pending in Europe.

In cooperation with Energy Efficiency Watch and the european council for an energy efficient economy (eceee), the “Solutions Workshop” will take place at the eceee 2017 Summer Study on energy efficiency in Hyères, France. The workshop will identify the key issues and challenges around the EU Commission’s Clean Energy for All proposals. Participants from the Commission, industry, and civil society will discuss whether the level of ambition for end-use savings is sufficient and how to ensure that energy efficiency is considered seriously before investing in new energy supply infrastructure. The workshop will build on RAP’s detailed assessment of the Winter Package and recent global research on experience with energy efficiency obligations.

“We are excited to join efficiency experts from across the globe to share lessons learned, best practices, and cutting-edge thinking to drive efficiency solutions,” commented Richard Cowart, director of European programmes at RAP. “Energy efficiency can provide the foundation for the 2030 package. But European policymakers don’t have to reinvent the wheel with Efficiency First. They can build on successful policies in Europe and abroad to capture more of this low-cost resource.”

In addition to the Solutions Workshop, RAP’s efficiency team will be very active in the Summer Study. Dr. Jan Rosenow, Mr. Cowart, Edith Bayer, and Andreas Jahn co-authored the following papers for the conference:

• Will the Winter Package Deliver on Efficiency First?
• Property Transfer Tax Reform –a game changer for energy efficiency retrofits?
• Costs and Benefits of Energy Efficiency Obligations – a review of European programmes
• Energy Saving Obligations Across Three Continents: contrasting approaches and results
• Carbon Budgets, Buildings, and Brexit: are Britain’s non-EU climate change targets at risk?
• The Future of Energy Efficiency Obligation Schemes in the EU

Ms. Bayer also directed the focus of the conference as a panel co-leader addressing how to best design, implement, and evaluate efficiency policies to deliver real energy savings and effective demand-side management.