Energy Efficiency Resource Standard
Green Jobs, Strong Economy, Clean Environment
Energy efficiency is here now, and it can unleash the Southeast’s economic potential.
Businesses and consumers across the Southeast spend millions on energy that is wasted, but we can capture that wasted
energy and do more while using less. An aggressive national Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) will
encourage innovation, lower utility bills for consumers and businesses, create new green jobs, boost the economy,
and reduce our global warming pollution.
Leading businesses, industry groups and advocates are urging Congress to enact a national EERS requiring electric and
gas utilities to reduce demand by 15 and 10 percent respectively by 2020.
Implementing a strong energy efficiency resource standard in the Southeast will put tens of thousands of our region’s
skilled labor force back to work making our buildings and energy infrastructure more efficient.
A national EERS would create an estimated 222,000 American jobs by 2020. For the Southeast, an EERS would
create 56,350 more jobs than would be created by turning to new power plants instead.
These new jobs will be professional, skilled and semi-skilled. The EERS will drive utilities to offer incentives and
assistance to make customers’ homes and businesses more energy‐efficient. Job growth will respond to, for
example, purchases of new appliances, sound investments in improved building methods, upgrades to
electricity distribution systems, and installation of combined heat and power systems.
In addition to being a cost effective solution, energy efficiency saves us money and boosts economic growth.
A national EERS could save $38 billion in our region and $169 billion
nationally through 2020.
The energy saved through a national EERS could be large enough to serve 36
percent of national residential energy demand in 2020, representing almost
48 million U.S. and 14 million Southeast households.
For every dollar invested in ef