A State-by-State Energy Cost Comparison

2016’s Most & Least Energy-Expensive States Wallethub In the U.S., energy costs eat between 5 and 22 percent of families’ total after-tax income, with the poorest Americans, or 25 million households, paying the highest of that range. And lower energy prices don’t necessarily equate to savings. Where we live and how much energy we use make up … Read more

Is the Oil Market Heading to Balance?

oil market

Oil Prices Down, Investment Down, Supply Up, Energy Efficiency Down Clean Technica, July 8, 2016 The International Energy Agency (IEA) published an updated analysis of the current oil price environment this week, detailing how the current market is generally misbehaving. Though some might look at the decreased investment as a good thing, the resulting increase … Read more

A Tesla Master Plan Part Deux Breakdown

Ryan Pollin, ERS, for Zondits All right, folks: Elon Musk of Tesla Motors has let us in on the big ideas once again. Most blog posts don’t tend to cause this much stir, but seeing how 10 years later his first one turned out to be true nearly line for line, it might be worth … Read more

How Green Are the Rio Olympics, Really?

Gita Subramony, ERS, for Zondits In the recently released ACEEE International Energy Efficiency Scorecard, Brazil was one of the lowest-scoring countries, ranking within the bottom three. In a few weeks, they will also be hosting a different type of international competition, the 2016 Summer Olympics. [mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”18″ bg_color=”#8224e3″ txt_color=”#ffffff”]The organizers of the Rio … Read more

China Scores Higher than USA in ACEEE’s International Energy Efficiency Scorecard

most energy-efficient state energy efficiency scorecard Process Efficiency-real-time evaluations

Gita Subramony, ERS, for Zondits Every year the ACEEE releases a scorecard that ranks the top 23 energy-consuming countries based on energy efficiency policies and performance. They gather data to evaluate metrics on buildings, industry, transportation, and overall national energy efficiency policies and efforts. According to ACEEE’s analysis, Germany takes the gold medal, with Japan … Read more

Survey Reveals Corporate Energy Investments Are on a Upswing

2016 Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator survey reveals planned investment at all-time high: 72 percent of respondents to increase energy efficiency and renewable energy investments PR Newswire, June 23, 2016 The 2016 Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) survey of more than 1,200 facility and energy management executives in the United States, Brazil, China, Germany and India shows interest and investment in … Read more

Energy Efficiency Financing Options for Supermarkets

Financing options boost the business case for energy-efficiency projects Supermarket News, July 20, 2016 Capture the ‘free money’ of on-bill financing [mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”18″ bg_color=”#8224e3″ txt_color=”#ffffff”]“Once the project is paid off, the store sees lower utility bills,” Tan said. “But the benefits of the new equipment start immediately. Along with reducing energy consumption and … Read more

Massachusetts City Saves Millions with Efficiency Programs

Energy efficiency brings Lowell $4.7M in savings Lowell Sun, July 19, 2016 The city has saved about $4.7 million on energy costs since starting an efficiency and solar-energy program in 2010, according to a new report. [mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”20″ bg_color=”#8224e3″ txt_color=”#ffffff”]Estimated savings from the project are calculated by comparing costs each year with costs … Read more

Persistence in the Evaluation World

Max Ma, ERS, for Zondits In the utility M&V and evaluation world, persistence is generally defined as the change in expected savings relative to the baseline.[note]ERS, “Measure Life Study Prepared for Massachusetts Joint Utilities,” 2005[/note] Persistence is the little brother to the end-of–useful-life (EUL) metric. Frequently, persistence factors are built into the deemed values of … Read more

Northshore Management is Now the Majority Owner of Fiveworx

NORTHSHORE MANAGEMENT ACQUIRES MAJORITY OWNERSHIP IN FIVEWORX Fiveworx, July 12, 2016 Fiveworx announced today that Knoxville-based Northshore Management Company has acquired majority ownership in Fiveworx. As part of the transaction, Fiveworx management and founders will maintain an equity position in the company. The transaction will allow the company to accelerate development of its persona-based email … Read more