One way or another, energy costs will be rising again for businesses, even if the economy takes its sweet old time recovering from the 2008 meltdown.

It’s this grim reality that prompted energy research firm Verdantix to warn corporate boardrooms to develop and implement comprehensive energy-efficiency strategies — now.

These efficiency plans should include projects ranging from upgrading lighting systems at facilities to investing in voltage power optimization projects to maximize the energy efficiency of entire building systems.

After interviewing a variety of financial execs, Verdantix predicts in The Energy Efficiency Imperative: why CFOs Need a Financial Strategy for Energy and Carbon that oil and electricity prices will soar due to:

1. hidden costs of carbon (i.e., burning fossil fuels)
2. oil and gas supply disruptions
3. costs of climate change compliance, and
4. investors’ demands for full disclosure of energy risk exposures.

For example, the report warns that energy analysts predict that oil prices will range from $80 to $100 a barrel by year’s end and that oil exporting countries expect to get up to $150 a barrel of crude in the years just ahead.

Plus, electricity prices are expected to quadruple from the lows of 2009 as greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade programs take effect around the world.

The U.S. has yet to enact similar legislation, but the Obama administration and many in Congress are still pushing a cap-and-trade program that would mandate a 17% cut in GHG releases by 2020 in exchange for building new nuclear power plants and expanding offshore drilling for oil and gas supplies.