WASHINGTON, D.C. – A clean-energy group contends Indiana is missing its best opportunity to save energy and money.

26 states require power companies to meet specific targets for burning less energy. Indiana established efficiency standards in 2012, but repealed them two years later.

Weston Berg with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy says those programs account for 80-percent of all electricity savings. Every state reduced electricity consumption last year — Indiana cut its usage by half-a-percent. But that’s a quarter of what then-Governor Mitch Daniels predicted the targets would achieve. Indiana ranked 29th, with 14 states saving at least twice as much energy.

The council’s annual scorecard assigns points to states for their performance on more than 30 criteria, including not only efficiency standards but utility and transportation policies, and energy standards for appliances. Indiana ranked 27th in 2013, but dropped to 40th after the repeal of the efficiency standards the next year, and has remained there ever since.

Though it accounts for only a tiny sliver of the rankings, Indiana does rank near the top in disclosing the energy efficiency of new buildings. 41-percent of new buildings come with labels detailing their energy performance, the fourth-highest rate in the nation.