Energy efficiency programs approved by the California Public Utilities Commission resulted in savings of 5,900 gigawatt-hours of electricity in fiscal year 2010-11, or enough to power more than 600,000 homes for a year, the commission announced this week.

The savings — the equivalent of power produced by two major power plants — are based on savings estimates reported by the state’s investor-owned utilities. The estimated savings cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3.8 tons, or the equivalent of removing more than 700,000 cars from California’s roads, according to the commission.

Nearly 90 percent of the energy savings were attributed to the commercial (55 percent) and residential (34 percent) sectors. The agriculture and industrial sectors together made up the remaining 12 percent of electric savings.

Most of the savings were achieved through more efficient lighting (59 percent). In the industrial sector, 47 percent of the estimated savings were generated as a result of improvements to processes.

“Through our energy efficiency efforts, California has avoided the need to build two new power plants and has helped green our golden state,” CPUC President Michael Peevey said in a news release. “The state’s consumers should applaud themselves for embracing energy efficiency, which helps to lower energy bills and also benefits the environment.”

Melanie Turner covers energy, medical/biotechnology, agriculture, transportation and manufacturing for the Sacramento Business Journal.


© 2012 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. http://www.bizjournals.com