The Ministry of Power (MoP) has announced the release of its ‘State Energy Efficiency Index 2019’ report, which keeps tabs on the progress made by the Indian states and union territories regarding energy efficiency (EE) initiatives.

The report covers energy efficiency initiates in 36 states and union territories (UT) based on 97 indicators. The index was developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and the Alliance for an Energy-Efficient Economy (AEEE).

The index is created to help states and UTs contribute towards national goals on energy security and climate action by driving energy efficiency policies and program implementation at a state and local level, according to the MoP. The latest report showed that most initiatives taken by states and UTs were policy or regulation based.

The primary objectives of the state efficiency index:

The report categorized states and union territories into four categories, namely, front runner, achiever, contender, and aspirant based on their index scores. Front runners are regions with a score over 60, achievers are states with scores between 50 and 60, contenders, between 30 and 49, while aspirants are regions with a score less than 30 on the index.

According to the latest report, there are no front runner states. The top-performing states -Haryana, Karnataka, and Kerala – fell under the ‘Achiever’ category. Nagpur, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir scored the lowest and fell under the ‘Aspirants’ category.

The report noted that states scored lower this year because of the lack of data for outcome-based indicators, coupled with the increased weight for these indicators and more stringent scoring criteria and evaluation process.

The sectors that were considered for evaluation were buildings, industries, municipalities, transport, and agriculture and distribution companies (DISCOMs). The index also comprised of 97 qualitative, quantitative, and outcome-based indicators. The outcome-based indicators that were selected were used to signify the adoption of energy, efficiency measures (technology, processes, etc.), energy savings, and reduction in energy intensity.

The report said that the indicators were further mapped in five dimensions – policy and regulation, financing mechanisms, institutional capacity, adoption of energy efficiency measures, and energy savings achieved.

Buildings:

The study found that the top-performing states in the buildings sector were Haryana, Kerala, Telangana and Karnataka. The index took into consideration 23 indicators to capture states’ initiatives and progress in buildings.

Buildings account for 33% of total electricity consumption in India, according to the report. The MoP and BEE have identified that energy efficiency in buildings as critical for India’s National Action plan on climate change and other global commitments.

 

Industry:

The top performers in the Industry sector were Kerala, Haryana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, according to the report. These states scored across all indicator categories – policy and regulation, financing mechanisms, institutional capacity, adoption of EE measures, and energy savings.

The report noted that conservation efforts from the private sector primarily drove the score for adoption of EE measures and energy savings indicators. The Index took into consideration 17 indicators for energy efficiency in the industrial sector.

Municipalities:

Telangana, Karnataka, Punjab, and Haryana scored the highest in most indicators under the municipalities category. The report, however, noted that the overall performance of states in implementing energy efficiency strategies in municipalities was low.

The report noted that only Assam, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana had set an energy saving target for municipal services, all specifically for EE Street lighting. Only Tamil Nadu has set an overall target. The Index considered 16 indicators to measure the performance of EE municipal services, including street lighting, water pumping, and sewage treatment.

Transport:

The states with the best scores in the transport sector are Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. State initiatives for electric mobility and energy efficiency measures in state road transport corporations (SRTC) and government buses have helped these states score higher in this category.

The report showed that most fuel-efficient SRTCs were in Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh, with Tamil Nadu and Gujarat leading the way.

The transport sector considered 13 indicators in 2019, up from five last year. The indicators are related to initiatives on electric mobility, energy efficiency of state road transport corporations (SRTC), and concerning the overall energy efficiency in the sector.

Agriculture and DISCOMs:

The top-performing states in this sector were Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka and Delhi. Haryana and Punjab scored the highest with a score of 9.5 out of 15 across all groups.  States with high scores were shown to have made advancements in policies and regulations, institutional capacity and in the achievement of energy savings.

The study took into consideration 19 indicators related to Demand Side Management (DSM) regulations, utility-driven agriculture and non-agriculture DSM programs, and transmission and distribution losses in the state.

Cross Sector:

Kerala, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana were the top-performing states in the cross-sector category. Kerala and Odisha scored 5 in the category, the highest. The report stated that the reasons these states performed so well were the initiatives they took to strengthen communication with the state energy department and their efforts to boost awareness and research and development in energy efficiency.

The study took into consideration nine cross sector indicators including the state energy conservation fund (SCEF) and awareness programs on energy efficiency, as part of the BEE’s agenda to strengthen SDAs.

Conclusion

A three-point agenda was recommended:

In August last year, Mercom had reported that about the State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index that aimed to assess state policies and programs aimed at improving energy efficiency across various sectors. Based on 63 indicators, the ‘Front Runner’ states in the inaugural edition of the Index were Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Rajasthan.

More recently, the central government and the BEE set new energy performance standards for room air conditioners and mandated that the default temperature must be set at 24° Celsius (75.2° Fahrenheit). This was to promote energy efficiency and reduce power demand.