Energy efficiency is often discussed in terms of lower energy bills and reduced emissions, but there is another important benefit: it can keep substantial amounts of money within the local economy. A new analysis from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) illustrates this particularly clearly. Massachusetts spent almost $11 billion in 2024 importing natural gas, electricity, fuel oil and propane from outside the state—equivalent to around 1.4% of the state’s GDP. Nearly $6 billion of that expenditure was associated with residential energy use.
The alternative is to invest more of that money locally through energy efficiency. Massachusetts’ long-running Mass Save programs demonstrate the scale of the opportunity. ACEEE estimates that efficiency investments made between 2011 and 2024 reduced gas imports in 2024 by 8%, saving more than $406 million in that year alone. Over the 2011–2024 period, programmes reducing electricity and fossil-fuel consumption generated an estimated $38.4 billion in total benefits.
The wider economic effects are equally important. Energy efficiency and clean heating and cooling account for around two-thirds of Massachusetts’ clean-energy jobs, while ACEEE modelling suggests that further investment in building renovation and electrification could create thousands more jobs and add substantially to state GDP. It is a useful reminder that the value of energy efficiency extends well beyond the energy saved: reducing dependence on imported energy can strengthen local economies, support employment and make households less vulnerable to volatile energy prices
The ACEEE Fact sheet on Mass Save is here.
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