NEARLY 25 YEARS OF STRONG ACCOMPLISHMENTS
⚡ Due in large part to the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project’s (SWEEP) advocacy efforts, funding for electric utility energy efficiency and demand-side management (DSM) programs in the region increased from about $21 million per year in 2001 to about $386 million per year in 2022.
⚡ The annual energy savings from electric utility DSM programs in the region increased from 625 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year in 2006 to 2,372 GWh per year in 2022. SWEEP has helped utilities expand the scope and increase the impact of their efficiency programs, including increasing efforts to assist income-qualified households and historically underserved communities.
⚡ Households and businesses in the region are expected to save about $12.8 billion as a result of utility energy efficiency programs implemented in the region over the past 18 years. Much of these savings would not have been realized without SWEEP’s efforts.
⚡ Southwestern utilities and states are implementing a number of innovative energy efficiency programs proposed by SWEEP, including programs to support multifamily housing retrofits, advanced LED lighting, connected smart thermostats, heat pumps and heat pump water heaters, and Strategic Energy Management.
⚡ The region has avoided the need for 10 large baseload power plants as a result of utility energy efficiency programs implemented over the past decade. These energy efficiency programs also resulted in about 80 million tons of avoided carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions during the past decade, as well as reductions in other pollutant emissions.
⚡ States in the region have enacted over 150 laws to advance more efficient energy use that SWEEP proposed or influenced. These laws:
- Scaled up utility efficiency programs
- Required utility investments in beneficial electrification of buildings and transportation
- Strengthened building energy codes
- Imposed minimum energy efficiency standards on appliances, light bulbs, and other products
- Created tax incentives and grant programs to encourage construction of highly efficient homes and buildings, building retrofits as well as the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs) and charging infrastructure
- Established commercial building performance standards
- Set decarbonization targets for gas utilities
- Expanded energy efficiency assistance for income-qualified households
- Provided funding for installation of EV charging infrastructure
- Increased funding for transit, biking, and walking
- Encouraged more efficient land use and transit-friendly communities
- Set energy savings goals for public buildings
- Established new energy efficiency financing mechanisms
- Created a Clean Fuel Standard in New Mexico
⚡ Arizona adopted some of the strongest energy efficiency requirements for investor-owned electric utilities in the nation, requiring electricity savings of 20% by 2020. SWEEP actively supported this policy and helped prevent it from being weakened.
⚡ The state of Nevada, as well as most larger municipalities in Colorado and Utah, adopted the 2021 version of the International Energy Conservation Code and Utah adopted it for commercial buildings. SWEEP played a key role in educating policymakers about the benefits of state-of-the-art building energy codes. Homes built under the 2021 code use a third less energy than those built under the 2006 code.
⚡ With input and leadership from SWEEP, Colorado adopted minimum energy and water efficiency standards on 28 residential and commercial products sold in the state.
⚡ SWEEP helped to convince Colorado, as well as municipalities and utilities in the region, to support beneficial electrification (BE) in buildings, including the adoption of BE targets for Colorado’s electric utilities.
⚡ SWEEP, along with key partners, led the effort to add EV charging requirements in residential and commercial buildings in Colorado and New Mexico, and key municipalities in Nevada and Arizona, through the stretching of building codes and municipal ordinances.
⚡ SWEEP successfully advocated to ensure that income-qualified households and historically underserved communities benefit from energy efficiency policies and investments, including:
- State funding for energy efficiency upgrades in communities with a large fraction of income-qualified households
- Minimum funding requirements for programs and measures serving income-qualified households as part of utility energy efficiency and BE program portfolios
- More flexible and comprehensive utility programs for income-qualified households, including funding for health and safety improvements as well as energy efficiency upgrades
- Establishing energy efficiency programs targeted to rent-subsidized apartment buildings
- Programs and incentives to assist income-qualified households and underserved communities acquire EVs and EV charging stations, as well as electrify traffic in disproportionately impacted communities.
- Ongoing work to include electrification in state low-income housing tax credits, including EV infrastructure requirements in the Colorado qualified allocation plan.
- Developed a new model for capital stacking and workforce development in disproportionately impacted communities via the New Mexico Community Energy Efficiency Development block grant program.
⚡ In large part due to SWEEP’s efforts, Colorado adopted over a dozen laws to promote the purchase of EVs and to enable cities and counties to invest a portion of their gasoline tax revenue in mass transit systems and non-motorized transport. Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah also passed laws promoting utility investment in EV charging infrastructure.
⚡ SWEEP played a large role in the development of the REV West MOU, a cooperative agreement among eight western states to invest in EV charging infrastructure along all of the interstate highways linking the states, helping to lay the groundwork for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program that Congress adopted as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
⚡ SWEEP’s advocacy efforts impacted the adoption of California’s Advanced Clean Car standards by Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico. In addition, SWEEP helped convince Colorado and New Mexico to adopt more stringent Clean Car and Clean Truck standards, requiring that EVs account for at least 82% of new vehicles sold in the state by 2032. These policies are expected to prevent a cumulative total of at least 300 million metric tons of CO₂ pollution, driving the deployment of more than five million light-duty EVs and more than 600,000 electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks across both states.
⚡ SWEEP advocacy has helped unlock well over $1 billion in utility and public funding for transportation electrification programs through 2026.
⚡ SWEEP helped convince the Colorado Transportation Commission to require the state and major metropolitan areas to incorporate the state’s ambitious climate targets into transportation infrastructure investment planning. In the first few years of the policy, it has helped redirect more than $1 billion toward sustainable mobility instead of roadway capacity expansion.
⚡ SWEEP has played a key role in supporting building electrification in Colorado through co-leading the Beneficial Electrification League of Colorado (BEL-CO) for the past three years, and through leading the development of the LoveElectric.org website. This website helps educate homeowners about electrification opportunities and helps them find qualified contractors and rebates.
⚡ After SWEEP’s intervention in a case presented before the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee, existing law was upheld, ensuring new natural gas power plants undergo governmental review. A victory for consumers, the environment, and clean energy.
⚡ With SWEEP’s active support and input, Salt River Project, a utility in Arizona, adopted improved sustainability goals through 2035. They include commitments for the utility to reduce carbon emissions from its generation fleet, expand investment in energy efficiency, and accelerate the deployment of EVs, among others.
