Cost of Energy Efficiency Less Than Half That of New Generation, Says LBNL Study

Cost of Energy Efficiency Less Than Half That of New Generation, Says LBNL Study
BERKELEY, Calif.—New research by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has found that the cost of saving energy is less than half of constructing a new coal plant to generate the same amount of electricity. The LBNL study concluded that the average total cost of saved energy is only 4.4 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). On average, U.S. utilities charge residential customers about 13 cents per kWh. “The EIA (Energy Information Administration) estimate for the cost of conventional coal for utilities is 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour—more than double the total cost of saved energy,” said Merrian Borgeson, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The LBNL report notes that residential programs had the lowest savings-weighted total resource cost of saved energy (CSE), at about 3 cents per kWh. Commercial and industrial programs cost about 5.6 cents per kWh.