NASHVILLE – The Southeast utility company lags behind the national energy efficiency average, with Tennessee’s relatively low energy savings being partially responsible. New Report.

A report exploring energy efficiency in the southeastern, published in January by Southern Alliance Forklean Energy, compares energy saved by utility through efficiency measurements to energy sold by that utility, and practical intercompany energy This is the percentage that can be used to compare savings. In various sizes.

When energy efficiency performance is measured in this way, the national average is .50%. The Southeastern region, consisting of Tennessee, Alabama, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, South Carolina and North Carolina, averages 0.21%, according to the report. Tennessee is 0.08%.

“The historic investment in efficiency in the Southeast means that utilities in the region still have the current availability, abundant and low-cost efficiency resources,” the report states.

“We are in a period that could be the biggest expansion of the power system we have seen since it was first built,” SACE decarbonization director Eddie Moore said in a webinar on Wednesday. . “Growth of data centers, especially in the southeast, adds thousands of megawatts of equal size to small to medium utilities of individual states. In that context, reducing the load through efficiency is particularly important. It’s worth it.”

Tennessee was founded 90 years ago by the federal government and was established to serve around 10 million people in seven southeastern states.

TVA and Florida Light & Power are the largest utility in the Southeast region, and their low performance drives below the Southeast region average, says Heather Ponan, senior energy policy manager at SACE and lead author of the report. Ta.

TVA president Scott Brooks said the comparisons and claims made in the report cannot be addressed directly.

TVA points to recent energy efficiency investments

Brooks pointed out Energy Efficiency Investment and Programming The TVA was announced in 2023 and utility is included in it, including efficiency 2025 Integrated Resource PlanI’ll look into it Future energy needs by 2050.

“We believe that the cleanest megawatts are megawatts that are not produced,” Brooks wrote in an email. “With that in mind, TVA has developed one of the largest programs in the industry to improve energy efficiency in homes, schools and small businesses and encourage lower usage for large customers. did.”

TVA’s $1.5 billion energy efficiency and demand response program offsets an estimated 30% of demand growth over the next decade. From October 2023 to May 2024, 12,400 homeowners received more than $2.5 million rebates for efficient upgrades such as new central air units, insulation and new energy-efficient heat pumps. I did. This ultimately saves customers around $6 million over the life of these improvements, Brooks said.

TVA has also worked with over 1,700 companies to reduce energy use and save about $115 million in electricity bills.

SACE analysts said they saw “some positive changes” in TVA’s efficiency plan, but warned that utility companies could set plans and run out of shortages.

SACE Decarbonization Director Eddie Moore has recognized TVA’s recent partnership with the leading retailer of wholesale distributors and heat pump hot water heaters.

As the impact of such programs takes time to show up in the numbers, the numbers in the report may not reflect the performance improvements that may occur now thanks to more recent initiatives. said.

However, the report also criticizes TVA for not reaching the possibility of expanding industrial energy savings.

“The majority of TVA loads fall into the industrial category, and industrial energy efficiency is often the most cost-effective to implement. However, that category is surprisingly small for IRP,” the report states. It’s there.

The report says that providing energy efficiency programs often helps customers reduce energy waste instead of building new power plants to meet demand, resulting in rising energy needs. It’s a cheaper way to deal with.

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“What we see on TVA is discounting our ability to reach the commercial and industrial sectors and underestimating what is possible in the future,” Moore said. “And that’s important because if you’re not going to save that energy, you have to plan to offer it.”

TVA’s latest growth forecasting and new opportunities for funding “creating conditions for TVA to become the once-promised energy efficiency leader,” the report says.

However, the report also warns that the future of housing efficiency rebate funds available through President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is on an uncertain basis.

The funds cover household energy efficiency measures that are not covered by tax credits or utility programs. This is important to help families, particularly those with low incomes, pay for upgrades that save at least 20% of their home energy use.

The program implementation remains in each state, with Tennessee’s application and proposed program design awaiting approval from the U.S. Department of Energy.

President Donald Trump’s administration was able to pursue a clawback of IRA funds that was not ahead of the line, making it unclear what the future of the program is.