Report says ESCOs invest $2 billion annually in energy efficiency. (News).(regional energy service companies)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Over the last 20 years, a robust private sector energy-efficiency services industry has emerged in North America, and today over 60 national and regional energy service companies (ESCOs) are actively operating in that market, enabling customers to utilize savings from investments in high-efficiency equipment to modernize facility and equipment, reduce utility expenses, ensure reliable power, and improve control over facility operation and comfort.

Working collaboratively, the National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have built a database currently comprising approximately 1500 operating projects. Now in a new report entitled "Market Trends in the U.S. ESCO Industry: Results from the NAESCO Database" LBNL researchers Chuck Goldman, Julie Osborn, Nicole Hopper, and NAESCO's Executive Director Terry Singer have analyzed the data to provide the first analysis of industry trends and practices based on actual project performance. In the past, market size was largely based on best estimates, but the authors report with confidence that ESCO market activity, representing a diverse range of energy efficiency related services, ranged between $ 1.8-2.1 billion in the year 2000, the last year for which data is available. The subset of the market which is performance contracting ranged between $0.9-1.0 billion in that same year.

The projects in the database are believed to represent 15% of total industry activity during the 1990-2000 period. If average floor area per project is extrapolated over all projects in the database, the database represents 1.2 billion [ft.sup.2] of retrofitted floor area.

The database includes projects provided by ESCOs as part of NAESCO's voluntary accreditation process and projects submitted by state agencies that administer performance contracting programs in the institutional market.

According to the report, the industry experienced rapid growth during the last decade with aggregate revenues increasing at a 24% annualized rate. Approximately 73% of the projects in the database are from the institutional sector which, because of data collection biases, LBNL believes is the upper end of industry activity in this sector. ESCO activity in New York, New Jersey, California, and Texas account for 44% of total market activity.

Looking at patterns of usage and savings generated, the authors report that almost all (95%) of the projects include the retrofit of either lighting or HVAC or both measures. About 82% of the projects install high efficiency lighting systems, lighting equipment, or controls. Lighting-only projects report median electric ...