Why Energy Efficiency Won't Save You Money in a "Green Energy" World

How wind and solar ruin energy efficiency savings

In a November 8th, 2025, interview with the New York Times, Calvin Butler, the CEO of Exelon, one of the largest utilities in the United States, quipped that the best hack for lowering your electric bill is to turn off your lights.

The notion that Americans can save money on their power bills by simply consuming less electricity is pervasive among climate activists, organizations that push for wind, solar, and energy-efficiency/demand response mandates, and, of course, utility executives looking for ways to shift the blame for high costs back to the consumers for having the audacity to use electricity.

However, this energy efficiency messaging is, at best, outdated and, at worst, intentionally misleading.

What’s worse is that this message will become even more obsolete in the coming decades if we prioritize power plants with no or low fuel costs, such as wind, solar, battery storage systems, and nuclear power plants, because these energy sources effectively destroy the financial incentive to conserve electricity compared to coal and natural gas power plants.

To find out why, let us examine the fork in this particular socket.