NPPD incentive program invites customers to be EnergyWise

NPPD's EnergyWise energy-efficiency programs offer consumers the opportunity to save energy, money and help the environment. (Artwork by Nebraska Public Power District)

Nebraska Public Power District has teamed up with its wholesale utility customers to launch an ambitious and comprehensive energy-efficiency program. EnergyWise will show homeowners, businesses and agriculture how to "Use less, spend less and do more." 

NPPD Energy Efficiency Manager Ken Curry said, "In the past the business model for many utilities dictated that the more energy a customer used the better. Today, however, many utilities are asking, 'What can we do to help our customers use less?'"

Cost-effective response to load growth

The answer is to give them a flexible menu of energy-saving options:

• Commercial and industrial lighting incentive program

• High-efficiency heat pump incentive program

• Refrigerator and freezer recycling program  

• Irrigation efficiency program  

• Compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) incentive program

These are not the first energy-efficiency programs NPPD has offered its customers, but past programs, such as energy audits, didn't have much impact on consumer behavior. "I guess you could call that the 'down-side' of having some of the lowest electric rates in the country," Curry admitted.

But cheap, excess energy—in any form—is a thing of the past. NPPD's integrated resource planning process pointed to a growing load. "It is clear that saving energy is a good investment," Curry explained. 

So NPPD set out to build a portfolio of programs that would reduce kilowatt-hour consumption across the board. Reinventing the wheel was not necessary, Curry noted, since utilities all over the country have mature energy-efficiency programs. "They are very open about sharing their experiences – and we greatly appreciated their advice," he said.

Building on others' experience

Curry found Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in particular to be very helpful, since, like NPPD, the northwestern power marketer has low rates and a diverse base of wholesale customers. BPA has an excellent track record of promoting energy efficiency to its consumers. "We borrowed a lot of their model for EnergyWise," said Curry, "especially the flexibility. Our program offers different incentive options for every customer category."

NPPD provides the framework of incentives and $2.5 million to fund them, and the wholesale customers can pick which programs to emphasize. Each of NPPD's 76 wholesale customers receives a portion of the funding based on its energy purchases to pay out incentives to their end-users. The payments are entered into a tracking system that allows NPPD to evaluate the effectiveness of each offering and helps the customers to manage their promotions. "The tracking system concept system came from BPA, too," Curry said.

To settle on specific incentive programs for EnergyWise, NPPD commissioned a study by Summit Blue energy consultants. Using all standard cost tests, the study examined potential energy-saving opportunities that were likely to be cost-effective in the Midwest. A simple way to look at "cost-effective," Curry explained, is spending one or two cents on an incentive that saves the amount of energy it would cost 3.5 cents to generate.

Talking to other utilities, attending seminars and using resources from the Electric Power Research Institute and E-Source also helped to shape the program. "We kept hearing the same story after a while," said Curry. "Other utilities have been down this road, and there are just certain programs you use to start an energy-efficiency initiative."

Incentives to meet variety of needs

Residential CFL giveaways and C&I lighting upgrades fall into this category. Lighting incentives offer the "biggest bang for the buck," are easy to implement and have the added advantage of being popular with consumers.

Refrigerator recycling programs are also popular, removing big electricity guzzlers—and potential safety hazards—from homes. NPPD will conduct a recycling campaign for secondary refrigerators in northeast Nebraska for the next two months, with plans to continue it elsewhere in the state next year. The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality awarded NPPD a grant to support the program, which will recycle 95 percent of the materials from the recovered appliances. "This program is great for energy-efficiency, the environment and for public relations," said Curry.

A high-efficiency heat pump incentive is another program with multiple beneficiaries. The HVAC technology is a big energy-saver for consumers and fits utilities' load-shaping needs, too. 

NPPD also took its wholesale customers' needs into account in its choice of irrigation incentives. Irrigation is a massive summer-peaking load in NPPD's territory, so increasing the efficiency of the agricultural systems would have widespread benefits. "The program focuses on testing irrigation systems, making improvements and then testing again," said Curry.

Spreading the word to stakeholders

Communication is critical to the success of an energy-efficiency program, and NPPD has a thorough and organized plan for rolling out EnergyWise. Introducing wholesale customers to the program was the first step. "Our customers heard about the plans all through the IRP process, so they weren't surprised by the program," Curry pointed out.

As part of the yearlong process of developing EnergyWise, wholesale utility input was critical and NPPD spent time was spent asking what incentives made sense to their end-users. However, even with customer meetings and frequent communications, the biggest challenge—and opportunity—according to Curry, was insuring NPPD's 76 wholesale customers understood the programs.

Not all of its wholesale utility customers have the same resources to implement the program, he added, so NPPD is making a special effort to support the smaller utilities. "Taking the time to ask about their needs and listen to their concerns is an important part of that support," said Curry. "We realize what we offer today does not meet every system's needs—thus we need to continue to refine and add new programs that benefit our customers!"

In addition to the incentive tracking system and the Intranet news, wholesale customers get program brochures and a monthly EnergyWise press release on energy-efficiency topics. These materials are provided with NPPD's logo, or are customized with the wholesale customers' logo."

The second phase of the communications plan was to reach out to business partners and trade allies. Educating vendors and contractors about the products that qualify for incentives is worth extra effort, said Curry, because, they are often the consumer's main point of contact. "Trade allies have a tremendous amount of influence," he pointed out. "You want them to be able to answer their customers' questions. And it's good for local business and for the local utility's relationship with its business community."

Ready for consumers

NPPD is now in the process of rolling out EnergyWise to Nebraska consumers. Wholesale customers have been promoting selected incentive programs in bill stuffers and newsletters. Business partners are distributing information about eligible products, and NPPD had a booth at the annual Husker Harvest Days Expo. "The festival is a great opportunity to meet people and spread the energy-efficiency message," said Curry.

The competitive spirit seems to have gripped some of NPPD's member systems. Curry said one customer was determined to be the first to pay an incentive for a heat pump, and another was already scheduling refrigerator pick-ups. A large manufacturing facility has expressed interest in upgrading lighting, and a local utility was giving its line technicians CFLs to hand out to consumers.

It is too soon to tell how big an impact EnergyWise will have on consumer behavior and on NPPD's load, but Curry has a simple way to judge the program's success. Instead of setting a kWh savings goal, as Missouri River Energy Services did for its Bright Energy Ideas program, "We'll know EnergyWise is working when our wholesale customers call to ask for more funding," declared Curry.  

Resources

Nebraska Public Power District

EnergyWise

Integrated resource planning

Bonneville Power Administration

Summit Blue

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality

People

Ken Curry

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