This digital document is a journal article from Energy Policy, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
This comprehensive empirical analysis of US energy service company (ESCO) industry trends and performance employs two parallel analytical approaches: a survey of firms to estimate total industry size, and a database of ~1500 ESCO projects, from which we report target markets and typical project characteristics, energy savings and customer economics. We estimate that industry investment for energy-efficiency related services reached US$2 billion in 2000 following a decade of strong growth. ESCO activity is concentrated in states with high economic activity and strong policy support. Typical projects save 150-200MJ/m^2/year and are cost-effective with median benefit/cost ratios of 1.6 and 2.1 for institutional and private sector projects. The median simple payback time (SPT) is 7 years among institutional customers; 3 years is typical in the private sector. Reliance on DSM incentives has decreased since 1995. Preliminary evidence suggests that state enabling policies have boosted the industry in medium-sized states. ESCOs have proven resilient in the face of restructuring and will probably shift toward selling ''energy solutions'', with energy efficiency part of a package. We conclude that appropriate policy support-both financial and non-financial-can ''jump-start'' a viable private-sector energy-efficiency services industry that targets large institutional and commercial/industrial customers.