Energy efficiency is a very sound investment. We talk rather glibly about 2-year paybacks, but it's hard to find a bank that gives you a 50% interest rate. It is an incredibly cost-effective way to cut operating costs; and, through such financing options as performance contracting, cut those costs without any up-front capital expenditures. Reducing operating costs is good for the customer, the market, the country's economy. Further, energy efficiency (EE) creates five times as many jobs per megawatt hour than new generation. EE makes money while reducing pollution emissions. We hear so much about our environmental needs and global warming, but so very, very little about the most cost-effective way to meet such needs. People should be lined up at the door; eager to invest in energy efficiency. But ironically, it's a tough sell. We should all be so busy meeting our customer's EE demands that we really don't have time to come to a conference like this. Instead, we are here trying to figure a better way to convince these people of the tremendous benefits EE delivers. Why is it such a struggle to make the case for energy efficiency? And what can we do about it?
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