[Graeme]

Energy Efficiency of 50 U.S. States Ranked

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released its annual energy efficiency scorecard today. The scorecard ranks the energy-efficiency of all 50 U.S. states. Top states have advanced energy-efficiency policies and programs that help lower customers’ energy use and boost the state economy.

This year, there’s a new state at #1 and there have been a number of shifts in the ranking.

The top 10 states are:
1.Massachusetts (taking the #1 position for the first time)
2.California (slipping from the top spot, which it held for the first four editions of the ACEEE Scorecard)
3.New York State
4.Oregon
5.Vermont
6.Washington State
7.Rhode Island
8.Minnesota
9.Connecticut
10.Maryland (making its first appearance in the top 10 and also one of the six most improved states in 2011)

cleantechnica

[Pops]

Yea Haw! MO is number 8!

[DomusAlbion]

Yea Haw! MO is number 8!

um, from the bottom.

[Pops]

If you lived here you'd understand the good folks of the Show Me would think the scale is upside down.

[basil_hayden]

Well, well, Connecticut - it's easy to be 9 when:

You're a small state
That's chased all of its industry out of state
That buys nearly all of its energy from out of state
BMWs get good gas mileage
The 20% unemployed sit at home waiting for their direct deposit checks.

Now that they've cut virtually all of the efficiency program budgets to nothing, I expect Connecticut will fall a ways from top 10 next year.

[Serial_Worrier]

No red states in the top 10!

[JohnRM]

No red states in the top 10!

They're all red states comrade!
lol

[kublikhan]

Most improved states:

1. Michigan
2. Illinois

Oh yeah, #2 for biggest improvement!

[Tyler_JC]

These lists can be very deceptive.

People in Massachusetts eat food and use fuel that's produced elsewhere. There are very few resources domestically produced in Massachusetts.

So if Texas pumps a hundred thousand barrels of oil, refines this oil into gasoline and sells the gasoline to Massachusetts, who gets credit for the carbon emissions and energy consumption of the refining process?

You have to trace the resource or energy use back to the end consumer.

Imagine two states with one coal fired power plant to share between them. Each state gets all of its energy from this one power plant. Each state uses as much power as the other.

If the power plant is located in state A versus state B, one state will look super energy efficient, the other will look like an energy hog.

[Outcast_Searcher]

Notice the top states have the top population densities. Today I was watching Thomas Friedman on some documentary, and he pointed out that it is due to the population density of Manhatton Island that made their energy efficiency per capita so great. (As he said, it't more efficient to build "up" than out. Driving takes more energy than elevators, apparently).

Like Tyler said - such lists can be deceptive.

Red states tend to have lower population densities. Not that the GOP AGW and science denial is helpful -- just that it's more a matter of physics than ideology at this point.

By the way, in the same interview Friedman reminded us via the "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" idea that oil prices ARE going to increase in the medium term (the implication was the next decade or so), under just about any scenario due (for example) to the Chindia striving for middle class status issue.

[Margarethe]

Is this still a valid report as of today? Would really like to know. Thanks! Congratulations on the top ten!

[careinke]

#6 for Washington. Thank you hydro and wind power.

[Serial_Worrier]

This is all bullshit because which state is completely energy self sufficient? Is the US considered to be "green" when export our worst pollution to Chindia?

[AgentR11]

No southern states... one of the listed criteria is combined heat and power; heat is never a desired product in the south. The challenge is always designing the most efficient way to get rid of it.

The other was pure vehicle miles travelled, which is always going to be higher in a state like Texas with cities spaced far apart.

So... just a feel good stroking for blue states. no prob.

[MrEnergyCzar]

Why don't they do a total energy consumed per person ranking by state? That's what I'd love to know.

MrEnergyCzar