Utility disregard and an absence of state policy is holding back energy efficiency in the Southeastern U.S., the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) said this week.

The advocacy group released its third annual “Energy Efficiency in the Southeast” report and hosted a webinar with its policy analysts Wednesday to discuss how Southeastern states can improve.

SACE reported that in 2019, the Southeastern states — Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia and the Carolinas — were once again “solidly at the bottom” of the U.S. in energy efficiency efforts. The states achieved just 0.26% annual savings during 2019, less than half the national average and well below Northeastern states’ average of 2.15%, according to the report. SACE gauges energy savings as a percentage of prior-year retail sales.

The group said just three utilities account for nearly 75% of all efficiency savings in the Southeast, “while some of the biggest utilities do almost nothing.”

“We have a handful of states delivering the vast majority of savings,” SACE Energy Efficiency Director Forest Bradley-Wright said during the webinar.

SACE Energy Policy Manager Heather Pohnan said Southeastern states typically trail other parts of the country in efficiency performance.

“In fact, [the region] usually comes dead last in rankings,” Pohnan said. She said that in 2019, North Carolina was the only Southeastern state to near the national average of 0.67% energy savings.

SACE also found that South Carolina and Georgia also did better than their Southeastern peers, but they are still below the national average.

“Florida and Mississippi continue to drag the regional average down, while Tennessee and Alabama now deliver virtually no utility efficiency savings for residents,” Pohnan said.

SACE Executive Director Steve Smith said energy savings have become even more “critically important” during the climate crisis and the economic downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic. “This is clearly more important than ever. … The greenest electron is one that you never use.”

The report singled out the Tennessee Valley Authority and Florida Power & Light for excising their efficiency programs to “almost nothing.”

“Because these are such large utilities, their lack of efficiency savings effectively drag the entire Southeast average sharply downward,” SACE said.

Bradley-Wright said that in 2019, TVA engaged in a “near total abandonment” of energy efficiency measures. The federally owned utility, however, could execute an about-face.

“There could be big changes on the horizon for TVA,” he said, referencing new President and CEO Jeff Lyash and the possible installation of new board members who place more urgency on addressing climate change. “You could see Tennessee Valley Authority become a climate leader. … It’s something to keep an eye on.”

Bradley-Wright said TVA faces pressure to become leaner and cleaner from Memphis Light, Gas and Water, which is pursuing alternative, cheaper energy sources. (See Memphis Moves Closer to Breaking from TVA.) MLGW is TVA’s largest customer, accounting for about 10% of load and paying about $1 billion annually for power.

Pohnan said Duke utilities in the Carolinas account for more than half of energy savings in the Southeast alone. The report also said Georgia Power, Tampa Electric and Dominion Energy performed better than the Southeast’s regional average.

Bradley-Wright said the gap between Duke companies’ efficiency portfolio and Florida utilities can be chalked up to state policies.

“Policy is a huge factor in utility efficiency programs,” he said. “Florida Power & Light does nothing more than meet the minimum requirements.”

However, he said Florida is in the process of revamping its Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, first rolled out in 1980. “If we see a change, it’s going to come from Florida embracing more modern and standard [goals].”

Bradley-Wright also noted that South Carolina regulators recently rejected Dominion’s integrated resource plan, directing them to include at least 1% energy savings, among other directives.

“It’s not very often that you see IRPs rejected by public service commissions,” he said, adding that it could become more common.

“This is a time of transition in the Southeast. … The region is finally beginning to reckon with its aging fossil fuel fleet,” Bradley-Wright said. “The Southeast has historically lagged behind other regions, but examples of clean energy leadership are emerging in the region.”

Because the report draws on 2019 numbers — the latest available — it doesn’t include the pandemic’s impacts on energy efficiency programs. Bradley-Wright said 2020 efficiency numbers will likely be an anomaly because the pandemic “ground programs to a halt” in early March.

“The pandemic has had a devastating impact on families who were already struggling. … Energy efficiency has an important role to play,” Bradley-Wright said, adding that efficiency programs can lower bills and could even “play a role in debt forgiveness” for families who have racked up unpaid bills. He said that temporary moratoriums on shutoffs don’t do enough to address customer debts.