Curtis Tate Published

State Improves Energy Efficiency Ranking, But Has Long Way To Go

Emmett Pepper.jpg
Listen

West Virginia has slightly improved its ranking among states in energy efficiency.

West Virginia ranks 44th out of 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, on the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy’s scorecard.

That’s an improvement over 2020, when it was 48th.

Emmett Pepper, policy director for Energy Efficient West Virginia, said the state could do more to help residents and businesses become more energy efficient.

“As West Virginians continue to see electric rate increase on top of rate increase, we need to have better tools for our residents and small businesses to reduce their energy costs,” he said.

For example, he said there is no energy efficiency program for natural gas. The state also doesn’t spend enough on helping low-income residents weatherize their homes.

A couple of issues caused West Virginia to lose points: The Public Service Commission prohibits incentives for switching from natural gas to electric. The state also allows local governments to have less stringent energy codes than state code.