NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Top government officials had a clear message for state utility regulators Monday: Conserve.
"The cheapest, cleanest, most abundant energy source Americans can access" is the energy we waste, Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said at a National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners meeting in New York.
Bodman also urged utilities to make their grids "solar ready," which would allow people with solar panels to sell their power back to the utility.
He pointed to government numbers that predict a 40 percent rise in electric consumption in the U.S. by 2030, and said conservation could end up saving Americans $20 billion a year in energy bills. (It should be noted the government's projection for electricity demand is based on current policy, and does not take into account possible legislative measures to cut consumption, like a carbon tax or other regulations.)
Bodman's sentiments were echoed by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources.
"Energy efficiency has to play a major part in any energy policy," said Bingaman, also speaking at the conference.
Highlighting the differences between the Senate and the White House, Bodman said most specific steps to achieve energy efficiency should be left up to the states.
"Each state is very different," said he said. "You are the ones that best understand your state's needs."
Bingaman sponsored a bill last month in the Senate that would have required utilities to buy 15 percent of their power from renewable resources. The bill failed after heavy lobbying from Southeastern utilities, who said their region lacks renewable resources. It was also opposed by the White House.
Bingaman said the proposal could still become law if it is included in an energy bill currently under debate in the House of Representatives.
A federal mandate on buying renewable energy is seen as a boon for renewable energy companies - especially utility-scale technologies like wind - because it would provide a guaranteed market for their power.
Bodman pointed out that the White House supports plans calling for a realignment of the incentives typically used to regulate utility pricing.
"It is quite obvious that our current utility ratemaking structure provides incentive for investor-owned utilities to sell more electricity and gas, not less," he said in his speech. "Encouraging efficiency by definition means selling less, which is counter-intuitive to the present business paradigm."
He said such a revision will require a fundamental change in the way people think about buying power.
"What customers are buying is a service rather than a product," he said.
A few states have made regulatory attempts to separate utility profits -- as determined by the state utility commission -- from their actual power sales, although the idea is still very much a work in progress.
Bodman said other measures to support conservation include making commercial building codes 30 percent more efficient by 2010, and promoting so called "smart grids" that utilize "smart meters" to better control power use.
Bingaman also highlighted his carbon cap bill, which would limit carbon dioxide emissions by issuing permits and then allowing industry to trade those permits, the total number of which would decline in amount every year.
He said his proposal would result in carbon emissions that are 60 percent below current levels by the year 2060, in-line with what scientists say are necessary to avoid serious environmental and economic dangers posed by global warming. Carbon dioxide is one of the main gasses that contribute to global warming.
Bingaman's carbon dioxide bill is one of many floating around in both the House and Senate. Lawmakers are expected to take up the carbon issue in earnest in the fall. 
