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Personal Finance Website Ranks Kentucky's Energy Efficiency Low

WalletHub, a personal finance website company, places Kentucky 41st nationally in overall energy efficiency. The ranking comes based on such things as home energy consumption versus temperature readings and annual vehicle miles driven per capita.

Three main categories covered in the report are home energy, vehicle fuel use, and mass transit participation. WalletHub Analyst Jill Gonzalez says home energy costs can be greatly affected by heating and air conditioning use. “We know it does get pretty hot in the summer, but it’s not necessarily at the extremes that many other states find themselves, either blustery cold in the winter, sweltering hot in the summer.  So, that’s one thing that can definitely be cut down on is that total residential energy consumption,” said Gonzalez.

The Commonwealth placed 36th in vehicle fuel efficiency. Gonzalez says part of that ranking may be attributed to using older model cars with relatively small numbers of hybrids. “If people aren’t driving alternative fuel cars, hybrid cars, electric cars as some states have embraced more than others, that number is going to be driven up too,” noted Gonzalez.

Gonzalez says a home energy audit can help determine the need for new windows, five star rated appliances, or additional insulation.  She says Kentucky also scored in the bottom half of 48 states in fuel and transportation efficiency. The 34th ranking comes by dividing the annual vehicle miles driven by gallons of gasoline consumed.

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