Evolution of the U.S. ESCO Industry: Market Size and Project Performance From 1990-2008

Despite the onset of an economic recession, the U.S. energy services company industry managed to grow at about 7% per year between 2006 and 2008, according to EMP researcher’s definitive report on the industry. ESCOs anticipated accelerated growth through 2011 (25% per year).

Drawing on a database of ~3,265 performance–based energy projects, the report tracks market trends such as energy efficiency retrofit strategies, project installation costs and savings, project payback times, and benefit-cost ratios. Assuming the net benefits per project are comparable for ESCO projects not in the LBNL database, the authors estimate that the ESCO industry has generated ~$23 billion in net direct economic benefits for customers at projects installed between 1990 and 2008. Researchers found that nearly 85% of all public and institutional projects met or exceeded the guaranteed level of savings.