WASHINGTON - The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) announced the winners of its first awards initiative for exceptional state-led energy efficiency programs.

For the “States Stepping Forward: Best Practices for State-Led Energy Efficiency Programs” awards, ACEEE accepted nominations from programs administered by state institutions and an expert panel then examined the field of nominations. The top five winners come from different regions of the country and represent exemplary models for energy efficiency program implementation. The programs reach broadly across the economy including residential, commercial, institutional, industrial, agricultural, and transportation sectors.

The top five award-winning programs are:

1. Colorado Governor’s Energy Office: Colorado Energy Star New Homes Program

2. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority: Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Demonstration Program

3. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority: Wastewater Efficiency Program

4. Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism: Lead by Example Program

5. Maryland Energy Administration: Maryland Statewide Farm Energy Audit Program

The panel also selected 10 programs for honorable mentions, and recognized three emerging programs, for a total of 18 top programs from 14 states.

Michael Sciortino, lead author of the national report at ACEEE, said, “As new funding sources become available to states through the Recovery Act, regional cap-and-trade initiatives, and other state and federal sources, state governments are stepping forward to take on important responsibilities implementing energy efficiency programs. Our report highlights programs recently developed with these new sources of funding as well as many well-established programs that have been saving energy costs for consumers for decades.”

To read the full ACEEE report and to review the complete listing of the state energy-efficiency programs, visit www.aceee.org.

Publication date: 10/04/2010