Press Statement
September 19, 2008Sarah Rispin Staff Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center, 434-977-4090
Kayti Wingfield Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter, 540-470-0643
Tom Cormons Appalachian Voices, 301-910-8973Richmond, Va. – The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) submitted a report today to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, following months of analysis, showing that energy efficiency is a cheap, accessible and low-impact way to provide for the lion’s share of the growth in Virginia’s projected energy use through 2025. The report says that, even taking policy constraints into account, and rolling out less than half of the energy-efficiency measures that are cost-effective given current electricity rates, Virginia can achieve almost 28 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in energy savings by 2025. At the same time, such a program would save ratepayers $15 billion in energy bills, pump $11 billion in investments into the Virginia economy, and create over 9,800 jobs in the state. This is more than double the rate of savings that Virginia’s 2007 electric utility restructuring legislation recommends.
Wise Energy for Virginia lauds the report, which shows clearly that energy efficiency
