LANSING – Michigan has become slightly more energy efficient over the past year, but not enough to count as one of the top movers on the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s annual report card and not enough to move it into the top half of states.
Michigan ranked 34th on the 2009 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, up from 38th on the 2008 ranking, tying with Virginia and garnering only 10 points out of a possible 50 points.
The state did best for its building code, with 3.5 points of a possible 7 points. Much of that credit came from having statewide requirements for new building energy efficiency.
But despite new energy regulations, the state earned only 2.5 points out of 20 for utility-run efficiency programs. The report card did, however, take note of the changes.
The state earned no points for transportation efficiency programs or appliance efficiency standards.
California retained the top spot in the rankings, with the report noting its long-standing efficiency programs. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon and New York rounded out the top five spots.
At the other end of the scale, Wyoming, North Dakota, Mississippi, Alabama and Nebraska had the most room for improvement.
“By embracing a wide range of cost-effective energy efficiency strategies, the leading states are demonstrating that efficiency is their ‘first fuel’ to meet energy demands while growing their economies,” said Maggie Eldridge, the council’s research associate and lead author of the report. “States continue to raise the bar with comprehensive strategies to improve efficiency in their buildings, industry, and transportation systems. They are the ‘living laboratories’ of energy efficiency.”
“We hope to move up even more next year,” said Tiffany Brown, spokesperson for Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Brown noted that in earlier releases announcing the report would be released, it had Michigan in the bottom 10. A typographical error in the releases had listed Michigan (MI) instead of Mississippi (MS).
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