The Compendium of Best Practices gives concrete examples of how US states and cities are successfully promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy. It is the culmination of a process of extensive outreach, data gathering, and analysis conducted to identify the best practices, and making them accessible with easy-to-understand descriptions.

The report describes more than 20 specific practices and examples of their effective implementation in states or cities. The practices are grouped into five broad areas:

1. local policies, rules and regulations
2. approaches to financing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects
3. practices addressing utility regulation and transmission issues
4. state and local efforts to lead by example in their own operations
5. three example of exemplary low-carbon cities: San Francisco, Austin and Seattle

Exemplary local governments from across the United States share the key elements of their programs, their lessons learned, and the factors in their programme successes.

All initiatives are highlighted for their success in creating favorable market conditions for energy efficiency and renewable energy, as well as for their replicability, relative ease of implementation, measured energy savings, ability to offset the need for conventional energy, cost effectiveness, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and job creation.

Report prepared collaboratively by Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), Alliance to Save Energy, and American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), published in April 2010.

Information from: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP)

Download file: Compendium of Best Practices