Alliance to Save Energy

Overview

The Alliance to Save Energy advocates for federal energy efficiency policy through lobbying, research, communications, and coalition building. It describes itself as bipartisan, and its honorary congressional advisory board has historically included members of both parties. As of 2024, the board included U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) as honorary chair alongside Republican members, including U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The organization has supported major federal energy legislation, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, both of which included energy efficiency provisions. ^{2  3  4}

The organization’s membership base, which it calls its “Associates” program, includes more than 100 companies and organizations drawn from utilities, manufacturers, trade associations, nonprofit groups, and government agencies. As of 2026, listed associates included utilities such as PSEG, PG&E Corporation, Southern California Edison, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Seattle City Light; manufacturers and technology companies including Google, Siemens, Johnson Controls, Carrier, DuPont, and Best Buy; and trade and advocacy organizations including the Edison Electric Institute, the American Gas Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the U.S. Green Building Council. ⁵

Background

The Alliance to Save Energy was founded on March 18, 1977, by then-U.S. Sens. Charles H. Percy (R-IL) and Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) in response to the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. Sen. Percy was the organization’s first board chair from 1977 through 1982 and a co-chair through 1989. ^{1  6}

The organization has maintained a bipartisan structure throughout its history, with members of both parties serving on its honorary congressional advisory board. It has counted among its past board chairs several members of the U.S. Congress, including Sen. Humphrey and co-founding partner Sen. Percy, and later figures such as former U.S. Sens. John Heinz (R-PA) and Mark Pryor (D-AR). ^{1  3}

The Alliance has grown from a single-issue energy conservation coalition into a broader energy efficiency advocacy organization. A subsidiary it helped establish, the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, was later incorporated as an independent nonprofit. ^{1  7}

Programs

The Alliance to Save Energy organizes its work around three program areas: demonstration, policy, and communication. The demonstration program develops and implements technical assistance initiatives for energy conservation. The policy program develops the organization’s positions on energy efficiency and designs related research projects. The communication program produces and distributes publications on the organization’s policy and demonstration work. ⁸

Beyond those core program categories, the Alliance maintains several ongoing initiatives. The Active Efficiency Collaborative brings together member companies around connected devices and smart building technologies. The EmPowered Schools program works with K-12 schools on operational energy savings. The Energy 2040 initiative convenes a commission of energy sector leaders around long-term federal efficiency policy. The organization also operates a Data Center Working Group, and in January 2026, co-released a framework report with a group it identified as “The Ad Hoc group,” sponsored by Google, proposing a model called “Bring Your Own Distributed Capacity” that would allow large data center operators to fund demand-side investments on electricity distribution networks in exchange for capacity credits. ^{9  10}

The Alliance also engages in federal lobbying using paid staff, describing it as advocacy for energy efficiency policies. The organization co-hosted a March 2026 congressional briefing with the Environmental and Energy Study Institute on strategies to reduce household and small business energy costs. ^{11  12}

Leadership

As of November 2024, Rick Thigpen was the chair of the Alliance to Save Energy’s board of directors. Thigpen was the senior vice president of corporate citizenship at PSEG, a New Jersey-based public utility. Phil Croskey, CEO and co-founder of MD Energy Advisors, was the treasurer, and Craig Smith, chief customer officer at Seattle City Light, was the first vice chair. ^{13  3}

Paula R. Glover worked as president, a position she had held since at least 2021. The seventh person to lead the organization, Glover previously worked as the president and CEO of the American Association of Blacks in Energy. She also sat on the board of directors of Talos Energy and the Keystone Policy Center, among other affiliations, and had been a member of the National Petroleum Council since 2014. Her reported compensation in fiscal year 2024 was $220,063, plus an estimated $33,336 in other compensation. ^{14  15}

The board’s Honorary Board of Advisors included several current members of the U.S. Congress from both parties, including U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) as honorary chair and U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) among its members. ³

Financials

In fiscal year 2024, the Alliance to Save Energy reported total revenue of $2,316,913, a decline of approximately 22 percent from $2,969,451 in fiscal year 2023 and roughly 80 percent below its peak of $11,840,878 in fiscal year 2011. Contributions and grants accounted for $1,522,682, or approximately 66 percent of revenue, while program service revenue, consisting of membership dues, contributed $784,500, or approximately 34 percent. ^{16  17  18  19}

Total expenses were $2,904,642, yielding a net operating deficit of $587,729. Salaries and wages, including $225,902 in officer and key employee compensation, accounted for $1,055,272 in combined payroll costs, or approximately 36 percent of total expenses. At year-end 2024, total assets stood at $1,399,526 against total liabilities of $1,955,356, yielding net assets of negative $555,830, compared to positive net assets of $31,899 at year-end 2023. ²⁰