Advanced Energy Perspectives

Today, the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released their 2018 “Sustainable Energy in America Factbook,” which quantifies power generation investments and production market share across the U.S., along with other noteworthy highlights. Reviewing the 2017 data, one quickly sees that advanced energy is booming, despite policy and market uncertainties on federal and state levels.

It’s been heartbreaking to witness the devastation in Texas, Florida, and now Puerto Rico, from the recent trio of deadly hurricanes pounding our shores, not to mention the impact on our island neighbors. This week’s tides carried in news reports of recovery but also about resilient technologies that helped keep power on and hastened the restoration of power. This deluge of examples demonstrates that preparedness and investment in advanced energy can help communities improve their resiliency in the face of catastrophic storms.

Earlier this year a group of national, regional, and local energy efficiency pros met to decide what we should ask people to do to make the greatest impact on energy efficiency across the United States. What is the big, bold action we are looking for to show people how to save energy and save money? What is the cutting-edge technology that we should urge people to adopt to slash their energy usage? It turns out that the best ask today is the old ask: Change a light bulb. So that’s what the Energy Efficiency Communicators Network, of which AEE is a member, is going to do for this year’s national Energy Efficiency Day, which is planned for October 5. Because it turns out that there are a lot of old light bulbs still burning, and wasting energy, out there.

Today, the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released their fifth annual “Sustainable Energy in America Factbook.” What’s the big theme that emerges from the book this year? Advanced energy is now the new normal, adding gigawatts of new renewable energy generation capacity and improving energy productivity to meet the demands of a growing economy.

Saving energy saves money for homeowners, government agencies, schools and businesses – we all know that. Energy efficiency is also an integral segment of the broad advanced energy industry we represent here at AEE, a key part of making the energy we use secure, clean, and affordable. But it doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. Today, we hope to change that.