Annual Reports

SWEEP Annual Report 2023

 

As I look back over the past year, both its victories and its setbacks, one thing is crystal clear: the work that the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) does to reduce energy waste, promote equity, and advance climate solutions has never been more important.

This reality was underscored by the magnitude of the challenges faced in 2023. Seven back-to-back months of global record-breaking heat, including a staggering 31-day span of 110 degree plus temperatures in Phoenix. A housing shortage that is fueling an affordability crisis for families across America, along with intensifying transportation pollution as workers are forced to drive further and further between their jobs and where they can afford to live. Skyrocketing utility bills adding to the energy burden already borne by low-income households.

But SWEEP responded to meet these challenges, doggedly pursuing our mission to ensure a healthy, equitable, and low carbon future for all – by harnessing energy efficiency, electrification, and clean transportation solutions.

Over the past 12 months, our expert staff testified before state lawmakers across the Southwest, on cutting edge policies to decarbonize buildings and improve the efficiency of everyday consumer appliances. We served as expert witnesses in public utility commission proceedings on how to design utility rates and incentives to minimize consumer bills and maximize energy savings. SWEEP staff used their technical expertise to shape national energy standards and provide assistance to local building officials and elected officials as they navigated the complicated world of building energy codes. We brainstormed with HVAC installers, heat pump manufacturers, and building contractors on how to build and train the efficiency and electrification workforce needed to meet the growing demand as we electrify the buildings and transportation sectors. Relying on our decades of policy experience, we provided advice and recommendations to state energy offices across the region on how to design programs to leverage the benefits of the unprecedented federal monies flowing from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Working shoulder to shoulder with our Allies and buoyed by your support, we were able to translate these efforts into on-the-ground victories across the Southwest, as you’ll read in the following pages. While the road was often rocky, and we still have a far distance to travel, you helped us turn 2023 into a year of steadfast progress.

Thank you for being a partner and supporter on our collective journey towards a cleaner, more equitable energy and mobility future.

With gratitude,

Elise Jones
Executive Director
April 11, 2024