Energy conservation: Fast facts

• Throughout the 1980s and much of the 90s, conservation programs in the region produced an average of 1,440 megawatts of energy savings, the equivalent of what 3-5 combustion turbines would produce, and enough to power the cities of Seattle, Washington and Eugene, Oregon.
• The Council has identified 1,535 average megawatts of electricity savings that could be obtained over the next 20 years in its 1998 Fourth Power Plan, potentially saving as much as $2.3 billion in avoided electricity costs and reducing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fueled power plants by about 80 million tons.
• In 2002, a Council analysis proposed that the region could acquire an amount of energy conservation equal to the output of a large natural gas-fired power plant, about 300 megawatts, at a lower cost than building such a plant.
• The Council has identified over 600 average megawatts of potential savings in residential lighting.
• The Council has encouraged conservation development through mechanisms like the model conservation standards that require building codes throughout the Northwest, and more recently, through the adoption of energy efficient technologies and practices.
• You can buy washers now that exceed the 2007 minimum efficiency standards by as much as 75 percent.
• Recent research has shown that sealing leaks in manufactured homes could save the region around 120 megawatts of electricity.
• Simple, low-cost measures can provide 1,000 kilowatt savings per year in vending machines, and about 40 percent of that from lighting alone.