Connecticut's ranking as eighth in a national energy efficiency policy group's Top 10 is nothing new, but a state official said this week improvement is the goal.

"The governor has said Connecticut is going to be first in efficiency, and that is our objective," said Dennis Schain, spokesman for the newly formed state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

This week, the nonprofit, Washington, D.C.-based American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy billed Connecticut the eighth most progressive state. Tied with Minnesota, Connecticut has made cost-saving and efficiency-producing initiatives a priority, the report states.

The group ranked the state of Massachusetts first for the first time, supplanting California, which remained in second place.

The council's scorecard examined all 50 states for utility and public benefits programs and policies, transportation, building code compliance, state government initiatives, combined heat and power and appliance efficiency standards.

The report ranked Connecticut 11th for spending $126.9 million on electricity efficiency programs last year.

Other achievements in Connecticut during the past year include loan programs, sales tax exemptions for energy efficient products, and a new law that sets energy efficiency compliance standards for TVs, DVD players, compact audio players and recorders. That law goes into effect in January of 2014.

In 2006, Connecticut was tied for first place, and has been consistently in the top 10 since, said Michael Sciortino, ACEEE senior policy analyst and the report's lead author. But the state's ranking didn't change for the past two years, which covered 2009 and 2010, he said.

Key targets for energy efficiency were missing this past year, Sciortino said. And the funding levels for utility energy efficiency programs declined over the last few years, pushing the state down in the rankings, he said.

While the report lists a few key initiatives of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration, it leaves out the newest one, said Schain, the DEEP spokesman.

Malloy's "Lead by Example" initiative began this fall with a $15 million bond authorization for upgrades in heating, lighting, and insulation at state buildings. The state is now prioritizing those projects, and will eventually pursue similar steps at the municipal level, Schain said.

The state's new Bureau of Energy and Technology Policy within the energy branch of DEEP is charged with implementing these and other energy efficiency policies and standards, Schain said.

Visit www.ctenergyinfo.com for more information.

p.daddona@theday.com