American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy: The 2017 City Energy Efficiency Scorecard

Water utilities are at the confluence of the water-energy nexus, as they often implement programs to improve both energy and water efficiency throughout the water treatment and delivery system and among their customers. Water usage involves significant energy consumption because electricity and/or natural gas are used to source, treat, and transport potable water and to collect, transport, treat, and discharge wastewater, as well as to heat hot water at the consumer end use. As a result, improving the water efficiency in municipal systems can also result in reduced energy consumption.

The 2017 City Energy Efficiency Scorecard ranks 51 large cities and compares them across five policy areas:

• Local government operations
• Community-wide initiatives
• Buildings policies
• Energy and water utilities
• Transportation policies

Download the report below to see where your city ranks, and refer to Chapter 5 for information specific to the water-energy nexus.