Energy efficiency is one of the most potent and cost effective ways of meeting the demands of sustainable development. It has in fact been referred to as the best energy resource. Way back in 2005 the South African Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) published its Energy Efficiency Strategy in support of some of the objectives enlisted in the 1998 White Paper on Energy Policy. The Strategy set a national target for energy efficiency improvement of 12% by 2015 against the baseline year 2000. The document further predicted that, with a business as usual model of energy usage, at the projected rate of national economic development, there would be a need to invest in new power generating capacity by around 2007. Despite the policy foresight and seemingly enthusiastic efforts, though, the dawn of 2008 saw the country gripped in an electric power crisis, with a capacity shortfall of over 10%. This paper looks at what could have gone wrong, examines energy efficiency policies and measures in other countries and how these lessons could be adopted to the South African context. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.