A study found that the cost of former President Obama's residential audit program exceeded the value of the energy savings and the environmental benefits. The computer models projected that the subsidies provided to homeowners would save far more money than they actually realized. The realized savings were only 58 percent of what the computer models predicted. (The efficiency rules were projected to save 2.5 times more financial value than they actually realized.) Further, they generated only $0.20 in environmental benefits per subsidy dollar spent. The study concluded that when all the benefits had been calculated, the auditing program had a negative rate of return of about 4 percent.1 The Obama Administration's home audit program, managed by the Department of Energy, was created as part of the 2009 stimulus bill.
s_policy_summary.pdf" rel="nofollow">Haas School of Business
As the Trump Administration evaluates efficiency measures of the Obama Administration, it should keep this study in mind.
s_policy_summary.pdf" rel="nofollow">Haas School of Business
As the Trump Administration evaluates efficiency measures of the Obama Administration, it should keep this study in mind.
