Energy Efficiency Obligation (EEO) schemes – best practice handbook

Energy Efficiency Obligation (EEO) schemes are a policy tool that aim to deliver energy efficiency, energy productivity and/or carbon emission reduction goals. Common Capital was engaged by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to develop a step-by-step best practice handbook to help policy makers assess, design, evaluate and reform EEO schemes.

Key takeaways

  • EEO schemes are not a “one size fits all” policy tool. There are numerous elements that need to be adapted to suit the local context and policy objectives. EEO schemes are useful for scaling the adoption of energy saving activities with demonstrated commercial feasibility, but low levels of adoption.
  • When implemented effectively, these market-based schemes can offer more dynamic and efficient subsidy levels, the ability to self-fund and a greater capacity for market transformation.
  • EEO schemes have implementation challenges that can be mitigated through key design choices. Key challenges include winner-takes-all activities crowding out other promising opportunities, and schemes tending to only solve one problem at a time – resulting in trade-offs between policy goals.
  • Regular reviews and robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems are crucial for tracking the performance of EEO schemes, ensuring accountability, and mitigating risks.