For the better part of a week in early August, Michiganders sweltered, swore and roasted in temperatures at and near 100 degrees.

One record electric use day was followed quickly with another. Utilities begged customers to limit their consumption in order to keep the power grid humming. And throughout the state, ratepayers rang up massive electric bills to keep homes cool and workplaces functioning.

But the bills could be lower, the power grid less strained and fewer kilowatt-hours of electricity wasted, with modern, forward-thinking changes in the way Michigan meets its electric power needs. Such changes should encourage the development of renewable power-wind, solar and biomass-as well as an aggressive efficiency package as a way to move away from the polluting and nonrenewable dependence on coal.

Such moves toward that future could be suggested in a report scheduled to go to Gov. Jennifer Granholm by the end of this year. The authors are a stakeholder group working since April with the Michigan Public Service Commission. The goal is a comprehensive plan for meeting the state's electric power needs. It is crucial that the final report from the process, called the "21st Century Energy Plan," recommends forward-thinking polices that will be embraced by legislators and regulators.

For many Americans, energy efficiency conjures up an image of Jimmy Carter urging them to don sweaters and lower thermostats. They incorrectly consider the potential impact of saving energy to be marginal at best. Insofar as this view is held by key decision makers, our state fails to reap huge benefits.

Michigan energy consumers spend about $18 billion a year to buy imported fuels. Given that electricity and natural gas account for nearly half of this cost burden, reducing power and heating requirements by just 1% would redirect a significant amount of exported wealth into our state's struggling economy. Results of this scale and beyond can be achieved with statewide utility efficiency programs-similar to what Michigan unwisely dismantled more than a decade ago. What's more, these programs can deliver new grid capacity at half the cost of electricity from a new power plant. That's money in your pocket.

Michigan policymakers should make efficiency the preferred resource for meeting new electricity demand. Such a commitment is not unrealistic. Consider other states. Texas requires its utilities to meet at least 10% of load growth through efficiency. The Pacific Northwest plans on efficiency to meet all of its projected need for new power through 2012 and half of its need through 2025. And Vermont is actually considering a goal of negative load growth through aggressive energy efficiency programs. These policies reflect awareness that efficiency measures are proven, rapidly deployed, cost effective and capable of delaying or eliminating altogether the need for new coal-fired power plants.

According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a statewide fund of $100 million per year would make Michigan efficiency programs competitive. Such a fund could be established with a small distribution utility charge of about one tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour. Without a serious game plan to save energy over the past ten years, Michigan has accumulated very inefficient building and equipment stock compared to leading states. Such low-hanging fruit hints at even greater payoff here from investments in efficiency. Utility-sector energy efficiency programs would be complemented by other policies such as improved building codes and appliance efficiency standards that set minimum performance requirements for certain electrical equipment sold in Michigan.

In the end, energy efficiency is the cleanest, cheapest, quickest form of new power capacity for the grid. It also has great potential to boost Michigan's struggling economy by reducing money spent on imported fuels. For these reasons, Michigan should make efficiency the top priority in its long-term energy plan.