The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

organization. Founded in 1980, ACEEE's mission is to act as a catalyst to advance energy efficiency policies, programs, technologies, investments, and behaviors in order to help achieve greater economic prosperity, and environmental protection. ACEEE promotes energy efficiency by conducting technical and policy analyses; advising policymakers and program managers; and working collaboratively with businesses, government officials, public interest groups, and other organizations. It convenes conferences and workshops, primarily for energy efficiency professionals, and produces reports, conference proceedings, and media outreach. ACEEE employs more than 60 people, in its Washington, D.C. office or remotely. The organization's primary focuses are on end-use efficiency in industry, buildings,

utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

, and

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

; economic analysis and

human behavior Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity (Energy (psychological), mentally, Physical activity, physically, and Social action, socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external Stimulation, stimuli throu ...

; and local, state, and national

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...

Federal and state energy policy

Federal

ACEEE has worked on federal energy policy since the 1980s. The organization played central roles in the development of the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987, energy efficiency provisions in the

Energy Policy Act of 1992 The Energy Policy Act of 1992, effective October 24, 1992, (102nd Congress H.R.776.ENR, abbreviated as EPACT92) is a United States government Act of Congress, act. It was passed by United States Congress, Congress and set goals, created mandat ...

and the

Energy Policy Act of 2005 The Energy Policy Act of 2005 () is a federal law signed by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005, at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The act, described by proponents as an attempt to combat growing energy problems ...

, the

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007Pub.L. 110-140, originally named the Clean Energy Act of 2007, is an Act of Congress concerning the energy policy of the United States. As part of the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Pa ...

, and the Energy Act of 2020. Many of these provisions were developed in cooperation with interested business and received

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing Political party, politica ...

support. ACEEE staff testify before Congress and work closely with Congressional staff in both major parties to help shape new initiatives and analyze the impacts of energy and climate policy proposals. They weigh in on the federal budget process, promoting and increasing funding for what they deem the most effective energy efficiency programs. The organization also works with federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy on programs and policies, and participates in formal rulemakings on energy efficiency issues. Most of ACEEE's federal policy work involves research and education; however, they do a limited amount of

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

using unrestricted funds. They supported the EPS Service Parts Act of 2014 (H.R. 5057; 113th Congress), a bill that would exempt certain external power supplies from complying with standards set forth in a final rule published by the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear w ...

in February 2014. The United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce describes the bill as one that "provides regulatory relief by making a simple technical correction to the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act to exempt certain power supply (EPS) service and spare parts from federal efficiency standards."

State

At the state level, ACEEE works closely with public officials and local energy efficiency advocates, providing advice, analysis, and technical support. In order to maximize its impact, the organization concentrates its efforts on large states that are poised to make major decisions on energy efficiency policy issues. For example, in 2007 and 2008, it emphasized work in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. All of these states passed significant energy efficiency legislation, with additional legislation and regulations likely in some of them. ACEEE also works on state policies that can potentially be adopted at the national level. For example, staff have worked with several states to develop state appliance and equipment efficiency standards, which have subsequently been adopted by Congress.

Research and analysis

ACEEE devotes much of its resources to research and analysis in order to discern the best technical, program, and policy practices that promote efficient energy use, and to define the magnitude of benefits of energy efficiency. Research staff survey market trends and activities, analyze technical and economic potential for energy efficiency, seek to understand consumer energy decisions, and assess the potential for regulations, policies, and programs to achieve energy savings. ACEEE's research programs include: *Behavior and human dimensions – Researches ways individuals can change their behavior to save energy and ways these behaviors can be encouraged and amplified. *Buildings – ACEEE's oldest research program analyzes opportunities for energy efficiency in appliances and equipment; building design,

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

, and operation; and programs and policies that encourage consumers to make energy-efficient product choices. *Health and environment – Provides information about the health benefits of energy efficiency to the public, energy and health policymakers, and advocates. *Utilities – Serves as the principal documenter and reviewer of publicly funded energy efficiency programs and supporting policies, preparing regular surveys of best practices and supporting implementers and regulators in designing the next generation of programs and policies. *Transportation – Tracks vehicle technology and estimates the potential for future energy efficiency. In addition, the program explores technologies and policies that encourage changes in personal and

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

transportation markets to further reduce energy use. *Industry – Applies unique experience in energy efficiency for the

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

sector (including distributed energy resources such as combined heat and power), and assesses

technologies Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

, practices, programs, and policies to achieve increased energy efficiency in manufacturing. *Economic analysis – Encourages the use of sound economic modeling practices, studies the impacts of energy policies on the economy, and projects the economic benefits of energy efficiency technologies, practices, and policies. *Local policy – Promotes energy efficiency at the local level and provides key resources to support local policymakers, program implementers, and efficiency advocates. *State policy – Cross-program effort that combines expertise from other research programs to assess state energy policies, analyze the potential for energy efficiency at the state level, and collect key resources to support state policymakers, program implementers, and efficiency advocates. *Federal policy – Develops policy recommendations and documents how efficiency measures can reduce energy use, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions while benefiting the economy. *International – Works with colleagues from transitional economies to adapt technology, program, and policy experiences from the United States to these economies.

Outreach

ACEEE attempts to reach out to and inform diverse audiences in a variety of ways:

Conferences

ACEEE holds several conferences each year that aim to bring together disparate stakeholders to focus on multiple aspects of energy efficiency and the role it plays in addressing critical issues such as

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, energy resources, utility structure and regulation, and energy use in buildings, industry, and agriculture. Recurring conferences include: *Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry *Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings *Hot Water Forum *Energy Efficiency Finance Forum *Behavior, Energy, and Climate Change Conference (BECC) *National Conference on Energy Efficiency as a Resource

Publications

ACEEE provides research and technical analysis of current energy efficiency policies and practices, as well as forecasting future trends. These publications include research reports, white papers, legislative testimony, and conference proceedings. Major recent ACEEE reports include: *''The 2020 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard'' *''The 2020 City Clean Energy Scorecard'' *''The ACEEE State Transportation Electrification Scorecard'' *''How High Are Household Energy Burdens? An Assessment of National and Metropolitan Energy Burdens across the U.S.''

Web resources

ACEEE shares its work online by providing publications and conference presentations on the internet. While not a consumer-focused organization, ACEEE has several web resources devoted to educating consumers about making wise energy efficiency choices relating to their homes and their vehicles, through:
SmarterHouse.org

GreenerCars.org
(Online presence of ''ACEEE's Green Book: The Environmental Guide to Cars and Trucks'')

Ally program

ACEEE convenes primary stakeholders in discussions and networking opportunities through policy briefings, webinars covering recent published research and analysis, and one-to-one interaction with staff and Board members

Funding

ACEEE's sources of funding in 2019 were broken down as follows: * Foundations (66.64%) *Corporations (11.15%) *Nonprofits (11.49%) *Public Agencies (9.87%) *Individuals (≈1%)

References

External links

ACEEEAppliance Standards Awareness ProjectACEEE's GreenerCars

ACEEE's SmarterHouseACEEE's State and Local Policy Database

News

Reuters
* ttps://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7217594 NPR {{DEFAULTSORT:American Council For An Energy-Efficient Economy Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Environmental organizations based in Washington, D.C. International energy organizations Energy conservation in the United States