In our part of the country, energy savings comes from...

In our part of the country, energy savings comes from high-efficiency furnaces. If folks only have X amount of dollars to replace both their furnace and air conditioner, the more they pay for the air conditioner, the less they have for the furnace. They will end up with a high SEER air conditioner they don't need, and settle for a lower efficiency furnace that wastes energy,