California has fallen from its first-place position as most energy-efficient state, with Massachusetts taking over the title.

That’s not a sign that California is doing badly at efficiency, though, but an indication of how many more states are recognizing the importance of saving energy … and money. In fact, the momentum toward smarter energy strategies continues to grow despite a sour national economy, tight state budgets and Congress’ failure to act at the federal level, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

The council provides an overview of  that momentum in its latest State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, released this week.

“Energy efficiency is America’s abundant, untapped energy resource and the states continue to press forward to reap its economic and environmental benefits,” said Steven Nadel, executive director of the ACEEE. “The message here is that energy efficiency is a pragmatic, bipartisan solution that political leaders from both sides of the aisle can support. As they have over the past decades, states continue to provide the leadership needed to forge an energy-efficient economy, which reduces energy costs, spurs job growth and benefits the environment.”

The top 10 most efficient states, according to the fifth edition of the ACEEE scorecard are:

1. Massachusetts (which ranks number-one for the first time)
2. California (which had held the top spot in all four previous editions of the scorecard)
3. New York
4. Oregon
5. Vermont
6. Washington
7. Rhode Island
8. Minnesota
9. Connecticut
10. Maryland

Maryland, which made the top 10 for the first time, was also among the six most improved states in this year’s scorecard. The others were Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, Alabama and Tennessee.

The scorecard also identified the 10 states most in need of improving their energy efficiency efforts. They are, starting with the state that needs to improve most, North Dakota, Wyoming, Mississippi, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia, Missouri, Alabama and South Dakota.

“Clearly, 2011 has not been kind to our economy, but energy efficiency remains a growth sector that attracts investment and creates jobs,” said Michael Sciortino, senior policy analyst at ACEEE and lead author of the scorecard report. “With even higher energy savings possible, we expect leading states to continue pushing the envelope next year and inspire those at the bottom of the rankings to embrace energy efficiency as a core strategy to gain a competitive advantage by generating cost-savings, promoting technological innovation and stimulating growth.

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