The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy is out with its 2017 State Energy Efficiency Scoreboard and, for West Virginia, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that we didn’t finish last. Unlike in most economic rankings, where we count of Mississippi to keep us out of last place, we can say “thank goodness for Kansas, South Dakota, Wyoming, and North Dakota.” They finished below us, vaulting us to 47th place on the rankings of the fifty states and the District of Columbia.
The bad news is that we are getting worse. This is three steps below where we finished last year.
The surrounding states all did better than West Virginia did: Kentucky (28th place, up two spots from last year); Ohio (31st place, down two spots from last year); Pennsylvania (19th place, unchanged from last year); Maryland (10th place, down one from last year); Virginia (29th place, up four from last year and tied with Oklahoma for the most improved ranking).
The scorecard assesses state policies and programs that improve energy efficiencies in homes, businesses, industries, and transportation systems. It examines the six policy areas in which states typically pursue energy efficiency:
- Utility and public benefits programs and policies
- Transportation policies
- Building energy codes and compliance
- Combined heat and power policies
- State government led initiatives around energy efficiencies
- Appliance and equipment standards