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Title: The Program Administrator Cost of Saved Energy for Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs

Abstract

End-use energy efficiency is increasingly being relied upon as a resource for meeting electricity and natural gas utility system needs within the United States. There is a direct connection between the maturation of energy efficiency as a resource and the need for consistent, high-quality data and reporting of efficiency program costs and impacts. To support this effort, LBNL initiated the Cost of Saved Energy Project (CSE Project) and created a Demand-Side Management (DSM) Program Impacts Database to provide a resource for policy makers, regulators, and the efficiency industry as a whole. This study is the first technical report of the LBNL CSE Project and provides an overview of the project scope, approach, and initial findings, including: • Providing a proof of concept that the program-level cost and savings data can be collected, organized, and analyzed in a systematic fashion; • Presenting initial program, sector, and portfolio level results for the program administrator CSE for a recent time period (2009-2011); and • Encouraging state and regional entities to establish common reporting definitions and formats that would make the collection and comparison of CSE data more reliable. The LBNL DSM Program Impacts Database includes the program results reported to state regulators bymore » more than 100 program administrators in 31 states, primarily for the years 2009–2011. In total, we have compiled cost and energy savings data on more than 1,700 programs over one or more program-years for a total of more than 4,000 program-years’ worth of data, providing a rich dataset for analyses. We use the information to report costs-per-unit of electricity and natural gas savings for utility customer-funded, end-use energy efficiency programs. The program administrator CSE values are presented at national, state, and regional levels by market sector (e.g., commercial, industrial, residential) and by program type (e.g., residential whole home programs, commercial new construction, commercial/industrial custom rebate programs). In this report, the focus is on gross energy savings and the costs borne by the program administrator—including administration, payments to implementation contractors, marketing, incentives to program participants (end users) and both midstream and upstream trade allies, and evaluation costs. We collected data on net savings and costs incurred by program participants. However, there were insufficient data on participant cost contributions, and uncertainty and variability in the ways in which net savings were reported and defined across states (and program administrators).« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
Environmental Energy Technologies Division
OSTI Identifier:
1129528
Report Number(s):
LBNL-6595E
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY

Citation Formats

Billingsley, Megan A., Hoffman, Ian M., Stuart, Elizabeth, Schiller, Steven R., Goldman, Charles A., and LaCommare, Kristina. The Program Administrator Cost of Saved Energy for Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.2172/1129528.
Billingsley, Megan A., Hoffman, Ian M., Stuart, Elizabeth, Schiller, Steven R., Goldman, Charles A., & LaCommare, Kristina. The Program Administrator Cost of Saved Energy for Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1129528
Billingsley, Megan A., Hoffman, Ian M., Stuart, Elizabeth, Schiller, Steven R., Goldman, Charles A., and LaCommare, Kristina. 2014. "The Program Administrator Cost of Saved Energy for Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1129528. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1129528.
@article{osti_1129528,
title = {The Program Administrator Cost of Saved Energy for Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs},
author = {Billingsley, Megan A. and Hoffman, Ian M. and Stuart, Elizabeth and Schiller, Steven R. and Goldman, Charles A. and LaCommare, Kristina},
abstractNote = {End-use energy efficiency is increasingly being relied upon as a resource for meeting electricity and natural gas utility system needs within the United States. There is a direct connection between the maturation of energy efficiency as a resource and the need for consistent, high-quality data and reporting of efficiency program costs and impacts. To support this effort, LBNL initiated the Cost of Saved Energy Project (CSE Project) and created a Demand-Side Management (DSM) Program Impacts Database to provide a resource for policy makers, regulators, and the efficiency industry as a whole. This study is the first technical report of the LBNL CSE Project and provides an overview of the project scope, approach, and initial findings, including: • Providing a proof of concept that the program-level cost and savings data can be collected, organized, and analyzed in a systematic fashion; • Presenting initial program, sector, and portfolio level results for the program administrator CSE for a recent time period (2009-2011); and • Encouraging state and regional entities to establish common reporting definitions and formats that would make the collection and comparison of CSE data more reliable. The LBNL DSM Program Impacts Database includes the program results reported to state regulators by more than 100 program administrators in 31 states, primarily for the years 2009–2011. In total, we have compiled cost and energy savings data on more than 1,700 programs over one or more program-years for a total of more than 4,000 program-years’ worth of data, providing a rich dataset for analyses. We use the information to report costs-per-unit of electricity and natural gas savings for utility customer-funded, end-use energy efficiency programs. The program administrator CSE values are presented at national, state, and regional levels by market sector (e.g., commercial, industrial, residential) and by program type (e.g., residential whole home programs, commercial new construction, commercial/industrial custom rebate programs). In this report, the focus is on gross energy savings and the costs borne by the program administrator—including administration, payments to implementation contractors, marketing, incentives to program participants (end users) and both midstream and upstream trade allies, and evaluation costs. We collected data on net savings and costs incurred by program participants. However, there were insufficient data on participant cost contributions, and uncertainty and variability in the ways in which net savings were reported and defined across states (and program administrators).},
doi = {10.2172/1129528},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1129528}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Wed Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}