The fifth annual edition of the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, released Oct. 20 by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), recognized the Commonwealth as the country's new leader. The state surpassed California, which had held the nation's top spot for the past four years. According to the ACEEE scorecard, Massachusetts' took a major leap forward when it passed the Green Communities Act in 2008. The act established energy efficiency as the state's "first priority" resource and created an Energy Efficiency Advisory Council to work with utility companies to develop statewide efficiency plans that are now deemed the most progressive in the nation.
The other Top 10 states on the 2011 Energy Scorecard are New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Maryland. The six most-improved states are Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, Alabama, Maryland, and Tennessee.
"Through our Green Communities Act, we set aggressive goals and laid the foundation for greater investment in energy efficiency – and now we are proud to be a model for the nation and world," Governor Deval Patrick stated last week. The governor is also predicting double-digit growth in green energy jobs by mid-2012. According to a bewkt released report from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the Commonwealth had 4,909 clean energy firms and 64,310 people working in clean energy jobs as of July. Growth in the clean energy workforce was 6.7 percent between July 2010 and July 2011.
For more news, visit http://www.aceee.org/sector/state-policy/scorecard and http://masscec.com/index.cfm/cdid/12406/pid/11150
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