A map showing how U.S. cities ranked on the 2013 City Energy Efficiency Scorecard. Portland and Seattle ranked in the top five cities.
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Earlier this month the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released the 2013 City Energy Efficiency Scorecard. The report assessed 34 U.S. cities, cataloguing the "efforts of America's most populous on policies to advance energy efficiency," according to ACEEE's press release.
Portland and Seattle were both in the top tier, with Portland at number two, Seattle at number five. Not too shabby, Northwesterners.
The Top Tier Energy Efficient Cities
1. Boston
2. Portland
3. New York City
3. San Francisco
5. Seattle
6. Austin
The map below shows how cities ranked and also the six different tiers. Here's how ACEEE explains the tiers:
“The cities in each tier varied with regard to the policy areas in which they scored poorly or well, but in general they are at a similar level overall in the development of their actions on energy efficiency. In many ways the differences among individual cities, and particularly the fractions of points that separate many of them, are less important than the differences among these tiers.”
The scorecard Executive Summary notes the methodology employed for assessing cities' rankings. ACEEE looked at the following policy areas:
- Transportation Policies
- Buildings Policies
- Energy and Water Utilities and Public Benefits Programs
- Local Government Operations
- Community-Wide Initiatives
Though Boston was the overall high scorer, Portland scored highest for local government operations and transportation policies. Seattle got top scores for buildings policies.
-- Toni Tabora-Roberts
