Idea of the Day: Lower Energy Bills Through Investments in Efficiency

American families and businesses are facing high and volatile energy prices which make it difficult to plan budgets, especially as pocketbooks are tightening in this recession.

A significant short-term benefit from investing in energy efficiency is keeping energy bills low. Building retrofits, incentives to adopt more efficient appliances, implementation of smart grid technologies, and increasing vehicle fuel efficiency all can help stabilize Americans’ energy bills.

Diversifying our nation’s sources of energy and investing in the development and broad deployment of low-carbon and efficient technologies will afford consumers and business greater choice over their consumption of energy and help keep energy bills lower. For example, a 2008 Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. study found that increased biofuel production was helping keep gasoline prices about 15 percent lower than they otherwise would have been.

For more on this topic, please see:

• Investing in a Clean Energy Present and Future: Opportunities and the Costs of Inaction by Kit Batten