Texas Environmental Almanac, Chapter 7, Texas Energy, Page 4

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Energy efficiency means you get more work from the same amount of energy. For instance, one gallon of gasoline can take you 30 miles in one car, while another, less efficient car, will take you only half as far. Energy efficiency saves consumers money, requires no compromise in lifestyle, reduces air pollution and contributes to economic growth.

Over the past two decades, Texas' energy consumption per dollar of gross state product has declined. In 1970, the state consumed 40,000 Btu's per dollar of gross state product. It fell to 27,000 Btu's per dollar in 1990. By the year 2020, forecasters project it will fall to 15,000 Btu's per dollar of GSP.(91)

Federal regulations forced automobile manufacturers to increase the efficiency of the vehicles they produce. The result: between 1978 and 1990, the average vehicle increased fuel economy from 18 mpg to 27.5 mpg. Despite these increases in performance, the amount of energy used in Texas' transportation sector nearly doubled between 1970 and 1991 because there are more cars on the road and Texans are driving more miles per year.(92)

From 1982 to 1992, the 12 largest utilities in Texas spent about $408 million per year on energy efficiency programs. During the same time period, they spent nearly $1 billion a year on nuclear power alone.(93) One of the most serious efforts at conservation in the state has been undertaken by the City of Austin, which has spent about $60 million on projects like home insulation, providing rebates to customers who install energy retrofits and attend educational workshops. The effort is now saving the city 190 megawatts of generating capacity per year, or about one-tenth of the city's installed electrical capacity.(94) If other utilities in the state began implementing aggressive programs like the one used by the Austin utility, Texas ratepayers would save billions of dollars per year while reducing pollution.

Studies have shown that the state could avoid building any new electric generating plants over the next 15 years if Texas embraced conservation and a comprehensive set of energy efficiency technologies.(97)

Cooling units offer the greatest potential gains in efficiency. One third of all the electricity used by Texas residential customers is used for air conditioning. That is almost three times the national average.(98) Also, a study by the University of Texas Center for Energy Studies found that replacing old refrigerators with high efficiency models offers the greatest single savings in electrical consumption. The reason is simple: refrigerators run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Increasing the efficiency of air conditioners, heaters, motors and lighting units will also save vast amounts of energy. One study found that cooling, heating and lighting in buildings accounts for 73 percent of peak electric demand in Texas.(99) The same study discerned that almost half of the electricity consumed in Texas buildings could be saved if efficiency measures were employed.(100)

In 1992, the average 20 cubic foot Whirlpool refrigerator used $72 worth of electricity per year. One year later, the same model used $51 worth of power.

Source: Austin Chronicle

Flourescent lamps give off four times as much light per watt as do incandescent bulbs.

Source: Central Power & Light, How to Control Your Electric Bill, July 1991.

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Texas Environmental Almanac, Chapter 7, Texas Energy, Page 4

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