On Wednesday, NASEO Fuels and Grid Integration Committee Co-Chair Dub Taylor (Texas) and Deputy Secretary for Climate, Environment, and Energy Efficiency at DOE-EPSA Judi Greenwald co-hosted an interactive, workshop style discussion to explore the anticipated evolution of energy efficiency through 2040. State energy officials were able to engage in dialogue with an expert panel of state, federal, and private sector partners to discuss potential, opportunities, challenges, players, and trends for energy efficiency and explore how increasing amounts of efficiency will interact within the electric system. Emerging efficiency technologies, innovative new financing vehicles, greater access to data, and an evolving utility-customer relationship have demonstrated the value proposition for energy efficiency as a low-cost resource. Panelists and workshop participants agreed that while the energy sector has just begun to tap into the advantages of energy efficiency, existing policy and regulatory barriers could be refined to advance and expand investment in energy efficiency.
Information discussed during this roundtable will be utilized by NASEO to develop recommendations regarding the U.S. Department of Energy’s Quadrennial Energy Review 1.2 analysis and will inform future state technical assistance on energy efficiency and energy planning programs and investment. Panelists included: Kathleen Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency with the U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Jessica Burdette, Conservation Improvement Program Supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Commerce Division of Energy Resources; John Jimison, Managing Director of the Energy Future Coalition; and, Bryan Hannegan, Associate Laboratory Director of Energy Systems Integration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.