Delmarva Power will meet just over half its 2011 energy efficiency goal, according to a new Maryland PIRG Foundation report, Utility Work Ahead, released last week at a news conference at a Salisbury home that underwent efficiency retrofits. Maryland PIRG advocate Fielding Huseth was joined by energy efficiency business owner Darren Lombardo of Salisbury.

Delmarva Power is expected to meet 55 percent of its goal, the watch and research group said. But the report found that Delmarva Power is not alone; none of Maryland's electric utilities are on a trajectory to reach goals set out in the EmPOWER Maryland Act passed in 2008, Maryland PIRG said. Under the law, each utility is responsible for reducing per capita electricity consumption by 5 percent by 2011, and 10 percent by 2015, says Maryland PIRG.

However, due to the failure of utilities to propose and quickly implement adequate energy efficiency programs, Maryland is on track to fall roughly 25 percent short of the energy savings promised under the codified goal, MaryPIRG reports.

"Delmarva Power's energy efficiency programs are a good start," said Huseth. "Yet, two years after EmPOWER Maryland went into law, the utility has barely started implementing its plan."

On average, each Marylander used 22 percent more power in 2008 than in 1990, the report showed. From 1999 to 2008, the electricity portion of an average household's power bill increased more than 30 percent, to $1,650 per year, adjusting for inflation, it also said.

By improving energy efficiency and using energy more wisely, Marylanders can cut their electricity consumption, make the PJM electric grid more reliable, save money on utility bills and boost the state's economy, the consumer watch group recommended. By meeting goals of EmPOWER, Maryland could save consumers and businesses $861 million annually, and add 8,000 new clean energy jobs in the by 2015, MaryPIRG also said.

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