While Consumers and Policymakers Dwell on Individual-Level Decisions About Small Energy Efficiency, Little Attention Is Paid to Potential for Huge Energy Savings from Systems, Industrial Processes, and Infrastructure Improvements.

WASHINGTON, D.C.///NEWS ADVISORY///When Americans think about increased energy efficiency, they conceive of it in terms of individuals buying CFL bulbs or energy-efficient appliances. But a new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) urges that equal attention be paid to large-scale energy efficiency savings that could cut U.S. energy consumption over 50 percent, save consumers more than $300 to $400 billion per year, and add almost two million jobs by 2050.

The new ACEEE reports outlines a more productive investment pattern for the U.S. to substantially lower overall energy expenditures on an economy-wide basis in the residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and electric power sectors.