Championing Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program

Energy efficiency is an easy and cost-effective way to help families and businesses save energy and money.

It also helps decrease greenhouse gas emissions and plays a significant role in reducing our energy needs in efforts to meet the state’s climate change goals.

Wisconsin’s energy efficiency program, Focus on Energy, is one of the most cost-effective energy efficiency programs in the United States.

And there’s great news: the Focus on Energy program has room to grow in the coming years, meaning more cost savings and fewer carbon emissions.

What is Focus on Energy?

Focus on Energy is a public program created in 2001 that provides Wisconsin state residents and businesses with resources, incentives and support to implement energy-efficiency and renewable energy projects. Focus on Energy is funded by Wisconsin’s investor-owned utilities, meaning it isn’t funded through tax dollars.

What are the benefits?

Focus on Energy creates a wide range of benefits for the state and residents. Most notable are the financial benefits: for every $1 invested in Focus on Energy, there’s a $5 in benefits for all ratepayers.

Focus on Energy also:

Saves enough energy to power about 80,000 homes each year.

Creates new, good-paying jobs in the clean energy sector.
The program is good for our state’s economy and local businesses. In 2019, clean energy businesses employed 76,000 Wisconsinites, with over 80% in energy efficiency specifically.

Promotes energy equity and helps our neighbors who need it most.
Efficiency measures help ratepayers save money on their energy bills, which is especially important for low-income customers who spend a higher portion of their income on energy bills.

Can help usher in exciting new technology of the future.
Modernizing the program will help Wisconsin residents and businesses keep up with the times – employing smart technology to use electricity when it’s cleanest and cheapest, and driving non-polluting electric cars.

Has lots of room to grow.
Right now, there is more demand than resources in Focus, meaning there’s lots of potential – in terms of energy and cost savings – left on the table. The current funding cap is arbitrary and hindering our ability to save money, create jobs, support our local economy, and build a healthy, sustainable future.

Wisconsin is falling behind.

A decade ago, Wisconsin ranked in the top 10 states for energy efficiency nationally. Now, we rank 26th. Neighboring states rank in the top 15 for energy efficiency nationally.

Wisconsin is going the wrong way – sliding down the rankings, and missing out on opportunities to save residents and businesses energy and money. Since Wisconsin’s electricity rates are higher than Midwest averages, those savings would make a big difference.

There’s room to grow Focus on Energy.

Right now there is more demand than resources in Focus, meaning there’s lots of potential – in terms of energy and cost savings – left on the table. The current funding cap is arbitrary and hinders the ability to save money, create jobs, support our local economy, and build a healthy, sustainable future.

With increased investment, we could achieve even more energy and cost savings. During this current moment, increased funding would help residential, commercial, and industrial customers who are facing tough economic times and are looking for ways to reduce their high energy bills.

Double the investment, double the benefits.

Clean Wisconsin supports a doubling of utility funding for the Focus on Energy program. Doubling funding would generate another $100 million dollars that could be used to expand energy efficiency and renewable energy programs in a cost-effective manner. Not only will Wisconsin’s residents and businesses save even more in energy costs, but it will help us save more energy from fossil fuels, a major contributor to climate change.