Energy Efficiency Administration: Many Religions, One Spiritual Experience

W.C. Chouteau

Keywords

Abstract

There is a wide array of approaches to energy efficiency administration around the US. Even if the whole were designed as an experiment to test and compare competing models, it would be hard to imagine a more diverse set of structures, entities, goals and implementation strategies. In talking to administrators and energy efficiency experts from each region about the issues they face, their differences are readily apparent. The administrators function under different legislative and regulatory mandates, employ widely differing types of organizations, have different timelines, funding levels, goals, incentives, constituencies and program mixes. They have differing histories, alliances and enmities among parties. What is notable is the convergence of many their responses on issues central to administration.

Out of the cacophony of voices representing different approaches, emerges the beginnings of a shared wisdom that may transcend the differences. This paper describes in qualitative terms the responses of 20 experts to a set of questions concerning the administration of energy efficiency programs including the use of third-party implementers and the role of innovation. While their responses certainly acknowledge those aspects that are unique to each region or state, they also begin to outline what may be a shared sense of the conditions that must exist for successful administration of these programs: clear goals and guidelines, trust and good working relations between administrators and regulators, funding stability over many years, incentives for performance, broad administrative discretion in implementation and mid-course corrections, continuity of programs and customer relationships, and cooperation across regions.