SALT LAKE CITY — The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy released the 2018 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard this month and it’s safe to say Utah did not do well, dropping from 17th to 20th place this past year.
Utah dropped the most out of the southwest states; New Mexico and Wyoming also fell in the ranks, but only by one position each.
“Utah lost points in the transportation and combined heat and power areas,” said Sarah Wright, executive director of Utah Clean Energy. “Utah is in risk of falling further in the state rankings if utility energy efficiency programs are scaled back.”
Wright said Rocky Mountain Power is currently considering doing just that.
Colorado is the top state in the southwest region for energy efficiency, while Arizona has remained in the top 20 for several years. Nevada climbed up five spots, and both the states of Nevada and Colorado were praised by Howard Geller, the executive director of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, for adopting new transportation energy efficiency initiatives and utility energy efficiency polices.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy measures states’ progress in energy efficiency efforts among several different areas, such as utility policies and programs, transportation policies, building energy efficiency policies, combined heat and power and state government initiatives.
