A recent WalletHub article ranked Texas low on energy efficiency. Their study mainly focused on home energy efficiency and automobile efficiency, and the Houston press pointed out that the low ranking is not surprising given Texas’s hot climate, car-centric culture, and oil- and gas-industry driven economy. The recent ACEEE State Efficiency Scorecard ranked Texas as 34th. The state does have an energy efficiency resource standard (the first in the nation), there are incentives for efficiency, and new buildings are required to comply with the 2009 IRC and the 2009 IECC codes. However, since the establishment of the energy efficiency resource standard, the state has fallen behind. Their energy reduction targets are less aggressive than other states’, and cost caps on efficiency programs make it difficult for utilities to meet their savings goals. The Lone Star State also lacks integrated resource planning. Given its rapid population growth and demand for energy, the state should begin to look more closely at efficiency as a resource. While it’s not the worst state for efficiency in the nation, there is still lots of room for Texas to grow.
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Texas Is Terrible at Energy Efficiency, According to Study
Houston News, October 13, 2014Houston is the energy capital of the world. We practically bathe in oil around here. So, it should come as no surprise to anyone that a recent study from Wallethub found Texas to be near the bottom of the list of states in energy efficiency. According to the study, Texas ranks 45th out of the 48 states in overall energy efficiency — Alaska and Hawaii were excluded — including 34th in home energy efficiency and 44th in car-related energy efficiency.
The only states with lower rankings were Kentucky, Louisiana and South Carolina. Vermont, New York, Wisconsin, California and Rhode Island top the list. Also not very surprising, the top 16 states are all north of the Mason-Dixon line.