Escos Around the World

ABSTRACT Imagine an industry where 25–50% return on investment is common…an industry that can cost-effectively reduce pollution and bring us closer to our sustainability goals…an industry where customers are offered reduced operating costs and new equipment without front-end capital expenses…an industry where the project costs are paid for out of avoided utility costs—guaranteed…an industry where targeted projects can reduce carbon emissions, thus avoiding important impacts on climate change. The appeal is enormous, so it is not surprising that the energy performance contracting industry and the energy service companies (ESCOs), which offer all this, have been growing rapidly. In fact, the appeal is so great that one wonders why there is not a crush of new firms striving to be ESCOs on every street corner in the world and anywhere potential beneficiaries are lining up to find such providers. Unfortunately, there are serious barriers and difficulties that work against such an industry. Given this backgroun...