Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, while achieving cost-savings, are a central feature of many local and national strategies to reduce energy use and combat global warming. Our Energy Efficiency initiative focuses on building effective policies and increasing the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency programs nationwide. Priorities include:

• Assessing energy efficiency policies: What has worked, how well, and at what cost? 

• Understanding household psychology: How can policy alter investments in energy saving?

• Examining the “energy paradox”: Why there is a lag in accepting cost-effective investments and products?

• Enhancing price sensitivity: How does price drive behavior?

• Developing supply curves for conserved electricity: What are the carbon dioxide emissions and equilibrium electricity price effects of policies to promote reduced electricity consumption?

• Assessing the extent to which Energy Star and other "green" certifications are capitalized into home prices?

RFF’s work on energy efficiency is a joint initiative of CCEP and the Center for Energy Economics and Policy.