Equipping You for Success in the Top States Dedicated to Energy Efficiency
If you’re a regional or nationwide company with operations in multiple states, you’re probably faced with strategic decisions about where to invest the majority of your projects. If you’re a company focused on energy efficiency, this is especially important, because the high variance in policies and available rebates from state to state can severely impact or benefit your bottom line.
Before doubling down on existing projects or breaking the ground on new ones, consider the best locations for your energy efficient facilities.
The state scorecard
Each year, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy releases the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, “a progress report on state policies and programs that save energy while producing environmental and economic benefits.” By combining data that analyzes each state’s energy programs, like building energy codes, compliances standards, and transportation, the ACEEE is able to make determinations about which states rank the highest, which rank the lowest, or which have improved in the past year (or not).
In 2019, the ACEEE again awarded Massachusetts with first place, for the 9th year in a row. That’s right, the state of Massachusetts has been earning this top spot for almost a decade, and the ACEEE cites the state’s 2008 Green Communities Act as the source of its great strides in energy efficiency. Last year, Maryland won the “most-improved” state designation, mostly due to the state’s EmPOWER Maryland initiative, which sought to decrease the state’s usage of electricity by 25% by 2020. So here at EarthTronics, these are the states we’re watching.
Rebates in tough regions
For sustainability advocates in Massachusetts and Maryland, this is fantastic news, but for manufacturers and distributors trying to keep up with stringent standards, this can sometimes mean miles of red tape and additional costs. Luckily, EarthTronics offers its Rebate Finder Catalog, a simple tool that allows you to search for rebates by state, program type, utility, category, and even zip code — cutting down on the groundwork for your team when searching and applying for rebates in any region throughout the United States.
Standards and retrofits
Other states to watch, according to the ACEEE, are Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, and Nevada, who all recently adopted new state appliance standards laws. These state standards can lower consumer utility costs and inspire adoption by other states. When facing these standards, especially for updated lighting across numerous facilities, consider a retrofit rather than a full replacement. EarthTronics offers a wide variety of fixtures that easily retrofit to your existing system, make updating your facilities—and adhering to evolving state policy—a snap.
Knowledge is power
Whether you’re operating in West Virginia, ranked 48th in the nation, or Vermont, ranked third, paying attention to each state’s standards, policies, and programs is key to successful businesses with energy efficiency in the DNA. With retrofits, rebates, or even just a shift in your investment dollars to a different region or state, you are sure to keep your business humming sustainably.
Contact us today with any questions regarding our Rebate Finder or how we can help you adapt to your states’ requirements.