News & Events

Cost of Saving Electricity Remains Low

The average cost to utilities to save a kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the United States is 2.5 cents, according to the most comprehensive assessment to date of the cost performance of energy efficiency programs funded by electricity customers.

We are pleased to announce a new study conducted jointly by Berkeley Lab and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), entitled Estimating the Value of Improved Distributed Photovoltaic Adoption Forecasts for Utility Resource Planning. A free webinar will also be held on May 24 at 10 am Pacific / 1 pm Eastern.

New tool from Berkeley Lab and partners will enable crucial assessments by Departments of Defense and Homeland Security and greater access for wind energy researchers

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), in collaboration with public and private partners, is pleased to announce the release of the most comprehensive publicly available database yet of U.S. wind turbine locations and characteristics. The United States Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) will allow unparalleled ability for government agencies and others to conduct research and make planning decisions.

We are pleased to announce a new Berkeley Lab report, Income Trends of Residential PV Adopters: An analysis of household-level income estimates. The study relies on a unique combination of datasets to describe income characteristics and trends among roughly 800,000 residential rooftop solar adopters located across 13 U.S. states. It is the most-comprehensive analysis of this type to-date, and one of few to utilize household-level income estimates.

Using electricity more efficiently benefits both consumers that install energy efficiency measures, from utility bill savings, and utility customers as a whole, from avoided utility system costs. Historically, quantification of efficiency's benefits has largely focused on the economic value of the energy savings. Far less attention has been paid to the peak demand impacts of efficiency, which make it more valuable and increase electric system reliability.

Nonresidential buildings are responsible for over a quarter of primary energy consumption in the United States. Efficiency improvements in these buildings could result in significant energy and utility bill savings. To unlock those potential savings, a number of market barriers to energy efficiency must be addressed.

We are pleased to announce the release of a new Berkeley Lab report: "Barriers and Opportunities to Broader Adoption of Integrated Demand Side Management at Electric Utilities: A Scoping Study."

A Large Majority of Wind Power Project Neighbors Have Positive Attitudes Toward Their Local Turbines, Berkeley Lab Study Finds

Study is the first nationally representative survey of residents within close proximity to turbines

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is pleased to announce the release of a new report: Regional Transmission Planning-A review of practices following FERC Order Nos. 890 and 1000. This report, and its accompanying appendices, build on the work of two prior Berkeley Lab reports on Regional Transmission Plans and Regional Transmission Projects.