Standard approach makes Corn Belt's good program better

Jean Eells, The E Resources Group, left, discusses features of a home energy audit with (l. to r.) Norm Fandel, Midland Power Cooperative; Dan Huffman, Grundy County REC; and Larry Beilke, Humboldt County REC, during recent training sponsored by Corn Belt Power Cooperative. (Photo by Corn Belt Power Cooperative)

Home energy audits can help consumers use less energy, and standardization makes a task more efficient, so Corn Belt Power Cooperative has applied one to the other to expand its energy-efficiency program.

Free residential energy audits are a popular service Corn Belt member cooperatives have provided to their members for several years. The north Iowa generation and transmission cooperative recently updated the program to make it even more effective. The end result will give everyone involved—power providers and end-users—better tools to improve energy efficiency.

Benefits for distribution co-ops

As Corn Belt Marketing Director Jim Sayers explains it, standardizing the auditing process ensures that energy efficiency measures are provided in a consistent way. "Corn Belt and its members will have a better set of data to calculate kilowatt and kilowatt-hour savings and program cost effectiveness," Sayers said.

The changes will also make it easier for member systems to report on their programs. The Iowa Utility Board requires cooperatives to file reports on energy efficiency programs and activities every two years. Information from home energy audits will go into a computer database that Corn Belt members use in compiling the reports.

Sayers is working on a standard form for members to use when performing audits. That won't mean homeowners receive a cookie-cutter service; rather it ensures that the results of the audit will be measurable. "Auditors will leave a copy of the form and a list of recommended improvements with homeowners," said Sayers.

Changes help consumers, too

Developing a consistent package of resources for members is an important component of Corn Belt's expanded energy-efficiency program. "We have a lot of brochures on energy-efficiency," Sayers observed. "We are compiling a resource list, so homeowners can pick and choose according to their needs."

The list will include the member co-op's contact information and the Web site address to Corn Belt's REC InfoCenter. Corn Belt sponsors the Web site, a library of energy-saving tips, product profiles and energy-efficiency calculators. "All our members use content from the REC Info Center on their own Web sites," said Sayers, "but it never hurts to remind consumers that a useful—and free—tool for saving energy is right at their fingertips."

Auditors will also leave behind a set of easy-to-implement efficiency upgrades to get homeowners started. Corn Belt's Efficient Energy Advisory Committee is in the process of testing such items as reduced-flow showerheads, sink aerators, compact fluorescent light bulbs, water heater wrap and water heater pipe insulation for recommendation.

The advisory committee is made up of Corn Belt member representatives, many of whom conduct home energy audits. "We rely heavily on them because they're the ones meeting the consumers," said Sayers. "Those representatives are our eyes in the field, and the face of the REC to consumer members."

Training brings consistency

As part of the new energy-efficiency program, Corn Belt hosted a one-day workshop on home energy audits. Every member co-op sent a staff person, even though the auditors really know their business, Sayers said. Whether it is helping a member choose a new furnace or finding those pesky Energy Hogs that are running up bills, he stated, "They are very experienced, not just at walk-through audits, but doing diagnostic tests, too."

E Resources, a local energy-efficiency contractor, conducted the training. The company has provided blower-door and HERS testing services to Corn Belt in the past. The training included a walk-through audit of a test house, giving auditors the chance to see how their counterparts worked. "That's going to help to refine the process and create a more coordinated service," explained Sayers. "Auditors also used the opportunity to give their input on the new form."

Sayers said that Corn Belt is now working with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to develop a more extensive, standardized training curriculum. Along with Gen~Sys Energy wholesale cooperative, the utility plans to sponsor two workshops based on that curriculum this spring, one in Iowa and one in Wisconsin.

Anticipating new regulations

Usually, when a utility invests this much effort to improve a program, there is a legislative mandate behind it. That is not the case for Corn Belt, said Sayers—not exactly, anyway.

Early in 2007, the Iowa State Legislature was debating whether to include publicly-owned utilities under state energy efficiency requirements that currently apply to only to investor-owned utilities. "Ultimately, they decided against it for now, but it got us thinking about the benefits of making our program delivery more systematic," said Sayers.

If—some might say, when—the state decides in the future to require municipal and cooperative utilities to demonstrate the results from energy-efficiency programs, Corn Belt Power Cooperative will be ready. In the meantime, its member utilities will have an efficient system for promoting efficiency, and member consumers will have more efficient homes. And in the end, "The whole purpose of an energy-efficiency program is to help your consumers," Sayers asserted.

Resources

• Corn Belt Power Cooperative
• Iowa Utility Board
• REC InfoCenter energy-efficiency calculators
• National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
• Gen~Sys Energy

People

• Jim Sayers

Related articles

• Web site of the month: REC InfoCenter

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