Georgia could create 32,200 jobs and reduce utility bills by $3.8 billion by 2020 through a series of aggressive energy-conservation measures, according to a new report released Monday.

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"The question always arises as to how much wasted energy can be eliminated, and at what cost," said Georgia Tech researcher Marilyn Brown. "We've tried to answer that question relative to the Southern states."

Brown and Duke University scientist Etan Gumerman used U.S. Energy Information Administration models for their yearlong analysis, titled Energy Efficiency in the South .

"Relative to the rest of the country, the South consumes a particularly large share of industrial energy, accounting for 51 percent of the nation's total industrial energy use," the study said, noting that the region also lags behind other parts of the U.S. in energy efficiency.

Throughout the 16-state Southern region, better conservation programs would save $41 billion in utility bills and create 380,000 jobs by 2020.

The additional jobs would emerge from expanded manufacturing and construction activity associated with more efficient homes and businesses, the report said. "Policies that drive a higher level of efficiency investments can create new jobs quickly, and can sustain a favorable employment balance because of the utility bill savings that foster long-term growth in other productive sectors of the economy."

Brown said the South's energy-intensive lifestyle has been influenced by many factors, including historically low electric rates, less interest in conservation and a low market penetration for products that promote energy savings.

Programs needed to conserve energy include stricter building codes, better weatherization, more attention to energy efficiency in low-income households and efforts to retrofit residential properties to maximize energy savings.

Industries, she added, could benefit from incentives to improve processes to save energy and policies that promote combined use of heat and power -- such as using waste heat to generate electricity.

"That is a vast area to be tapped," she said during a Monday conference call with reporters.

The South, she said, has so much opportunity for energy efficiency that a projected 13 percent consumption increase by 2020 could be offset.

"We have outlined a future in which there is no energy growth throughout the South," Brown said. "It is a scenario in which we would avoid 20 years of energy growth."

Although investments in energy saving programs are significant, the return is even greater -- providing a $2.25 benefit for every dollar invested across the residential, industrial and commercial sectors.

Gumerman said the benefits of energy efficiency are rapidly multiplied by avoiding the need for additional power plants.

"If electricity demand is flattened, and we project it would be with these energy efficiency measures, then fewer power plants would be needed," he said. "We could see that up to 100 typically sized power plants could be delayed and not needed to be built now through 2030."

Avoiding the urgency of new power plants, he added, would make it more economical to retire older, less-efficient plants as new ones are built.