California's Legendary Energy Efficiency is Statistical Myth

Calwatchdog.com ^ | July 16, 2013 | Wayne Lusvardi

[WayneLusvardi]

By now many of you have seen the legendary chart nearby. It shows that California energy use per person has remained relatively flat, while the trend for the other states has risen significantly during the last 50 years. It has been widely touted by the State of California and environmental organizations that this trend is due to the state’s energy efficiency regulations for homes, cars and industries.

This leveling off of California electricity usage since the 1970s compared to other states has received so much unquestioned academic acceptance that it was given the term “The Rosenfeld Effect” after U.C. Berkeley physicist Arthur Rosenfeld, who championed the energy conservation movement in the 1970s. Rosenfield boasts that the iconic chart of vastly lower energy usage by California is a “Graph Worth a Thousand Gigawatt Hours.” The chart has also become a media myth. But is it true?

A new study conducted by the prestigious non-partisan National Bureau of Economic Research, “California Energy Efficiency: Lessons for the Rest of the World, or Not?,” casts serious doubt on the claim of California’s legendary energy efficiency compared to other states. No less than economist Arik Levinson, who was appointed by President Obama to the White House Council of Economic Advisors, conducted the study.

Levinson said, “95 percent of California’s apparent electricity savings can be explained by coincidental trends” having nothing to do with regulated energy usage of homes, cars or industrial plants.

[mbarker12474]

The chart has also become a media myth. But is it true?

Hunh?

[dhs12345]

The highly respected scientist/political activist Al Gore said it was a done deal so no one checked the numbers.

[dhs12345]

Did they include the brown outs, when power was off for the whole city? That has got to be a lot of power. :)

Seems like they were having a few brown outs not too long ago. Maybe now people are afraid to turn the switch on as they might be that last watt of power that brings the power grid to its knees.

[aquila48]

I’m surprised the article didn’t mention the fact that electricity prices have gone up faster in CA than most other states - especially the ones with rising population.

Obviously it would be really easy to lower electricity consumption by doubling it’s cost via regulations and then credit regulation for lower consumption.

[tpmintx]

It helps a great deal when your major metropolitan areas are located in extremely temperate areas.

• How many heating-degree days are there in the Los Angeles or San Francisco metro areas?
• - Now compare that to say, the top 2 metro areas in the rest of the country.
• How much cooling demand is there in the LA and SF areas?
• - Compare THAT to the same 2 metro areas.

I have lived in the SF Bay area, in a home that did not even have an air conditioner. We almost never needed the furnace in 4 years of living there.

Energy efficiency is easy when you don't actually NEED any.

[dhs12345]

Yup. Obviously an agenda and accuracy be damned. Maybe, they are counting on the fact that a large percentage of voting CA residents can’t do basic math or understand economics.

[dhs12345]

Lol. Exactly!

Probably the same processes used to predict global warming.

What a bunch of liars.

[Deek]

I learned the hard way that older homes require less energy after moving into an air-tight condo.

While the condo's AC may be more efficient than an old house, in my old house I didn't need to run the AC nearly as much. The old house was designed to allow for the opening of doors and windows to keep the house cool at night or when the temps were moderate.

In the condo, I find myself having to run the AC even when the outside temps are in the 60's.