As utility efficiency programs grow, some industries want out

Utility-run efficiency programs have led to reduced energy use by homeowners and other energy customers — as well as lower rates — but some industries want out of the programs.

In Ohio, at the behest of a large number of the state’s industries, lawmakers are considering a billthat would, among other provisions, allow industries to stop participating in efficiency programs of any kind.

In Illinois, a group of large industries has asked Commonwealth Edison to create a pilot program that would allow certain industrial customers to put their efficiency payments into an escrow account, and to use the funds to pay for their own, self-directed efficiency initiatives. Typically, utility customers are required to pay into a fund that finances efficiency improvements throughout the utility’s service area.

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