Energy Efficiency Alive and Well in North Carolina

North Carolina scored another victory for clean energy last week when the state’s utilities commission approved a “shared savings” program that will compensate Duke Energy for its investments in energy efficiency programs if they save money for its customers.

The new mechanism, which will be in place from 2014 through the end of 2017, is based on the highly successful shared-savings approach currently in place in many states across the nation to encourage utilities to invest in energy efficiency programs for their customers. With “shared savings,” a utility earns a percentage of the measured energy savings it delivers for its customers. In North Carolina, Duke’s customers will keep close to 90% of the savings — and Duke Energy will earn the rest.

Read More