LANSING – Utility providers met a combined average of 121 percent of their electric energy savings targets and 117 percent of their natural gas energy savings targets in 2015, the Public Service Commission’s latest report on utility energy optimization programs released Wednesday shows.

The combined savings targets account for 1 percent of retail sales for electric providers and 0.75 percent of retail sales for natural gas providers, the PSC’s report concluded. Program savings across the state accounted for electric savings totaling more than 1.1 million megawatt hours and natural gas savings totaling more than 4.58 million Mcf (thousand cubic feet) for the program year 2015.

There were 14 investor-owned natural gas electric or natural and electric combined providers, 10 electric cooperatives and 40 municipal electric utilities offering energy optimization plans in 2015, the PSC found, for a total of 64 natural gas and electric energy optimization plans.

The state’s 2008 energy law created an energy optimization standard requiring all natural gas and electric utility providers in the state implement programs to reduce overall energy usage by specific targets in order to reduce future cost of service to utility customers.

To that end, utility providers spent $262 million to operate the optimization programs in 2015, the PSC reported, resulting in lifecycle savings to customers of $1.08 billion.

Put another way, for every dollar spent on energy optimization programs in 2015, customers would realize benefits to the tune of $4.35.

Minimum savings targets for participating utilities are based on a percentage of calendar-year retail sales for each utility, and those savings targets increased progressively over the four-year period between 2009 and 2012, the PSC said, at which time (in 2012) they became fixed at 1 percent for electric utilities and 0.75 percent for natural gas utilities annually.

And for the seven-year period of 2009 through 2015, energy optimization program savings achieved for electric utility providers were 129 percent of the target while energy optimization program savings achieved for natural gas savings for that same period was 127 percent of the required target.

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