Project

Evaluation of the California Energy Commission's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Programs

For the California Energy Commission, EDR Group (now EBP), as a subcontractor to DNV KEMA Energy & Sustainability, conducted a macroeconomic impact study as the last stage of an evaluation of $257m funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) into California Energy Commission programs. The emphasis of the study was to identify changes in jobs and dollars of gross regional product across regions of California. These impacts were the result of short-term program-related outlays through 2012 made by utilities, agencies, and energy customers to increase program participation or make improvements; and the persistent long-term energy bill savings through 2026.

Programs included residential, commercial and municipal retrofits, workforce training, clean energy business (manufacturers), financing, conservation, municipal block grants, and a revolving loan fund for state facilities to increase energy efficiency. The study included a set of high and low demand projections of retail electric and natural gas price sensitivities for considering how job and GRP impacts change as the valuation of lasting bill savings is changes from the mid-demand case.