R.I. falls to fourth place in State Energy Efficiency Scorecard

RHODE ISLAND RANKED fourth in the nation for energy efficiency on the 2015 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard released Wednesday. / COURTESY AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY
RHODE ISLAND RANKED fourth in the nation for energy efficiency on the 2015 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard released Wednesday. / COURTESY AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is still one of the top states for energy efficiency, but it slipped a spot to fourth place this year in the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard.
The scorecard, released Wednesday by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, ranks states on their policy and program efforts.
Rhode Island, it said, earned 36.5 points out of a possible 50, one point less than it earned last year.
Rhode Island earned a perfect score – tying with No. 1-ranked Massachusetts – for its utility policies and programs, and also received three out of four points for its combined heat and power policies, and five out of 10 points for transportation policies. The scorecard noted that the state does not offer incentives for high-efficiency vehicles, despite many of them being registered in Rhode Island.
According to the council, Rhode Island “has always ranked highly in the state scorecard, and continued to hold a place in the top five due largely to the effort in the utility sector to acquire all cost-effective energy efficiency.”
The state was praised by the council for having some of the “most aggressive energy savings targets in the country,” noting that in 2014, it was the first state to achieve electricity savings of more than 3 percent.
“These strong targets ensure that the state will continue to see high levels of savings in coming years for homes and businesses in the state. With other states vying for top positions, it will be important for the state to also focus on policies to encourage efficient transportation systems and continue to update building energy codes on a regular basis,” the council stated.
Massachusetts retained the top spot for the fifth consecutive year, followed by California and Vermont. Last year, Rhode Island tied with Vermont for third place. North Dakota was last on the list.

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