13 Aug Make Energy Efficiency Incentives Simple!

In Austin currently, the way to rebates and other incentives for energy efficiency upgrades for homes and businesses can seem daunting to the average Austin Energy (AE) customer. You really need to consult with someone who's already into the green building sphere to determine what will give you the most bang for your buck. Looking at AE's PowerSaver Program, you'll find about a dozen residential, almost a dozen multi-family and at least 20 commercial incentive programs. The programs cover various building upgrades and equipment replacements including heating/cooling systems, household appliances, water heating, lighting and thermostats.

With this complex system, it doesn't always make economic sense to reduce your overall usage. For my home for instance, we wanted to replace our 1980's vintage AC with a very efficient geothermal system (a.k.a. ground source heat pump). We found that AE rebates made a high-efficiency heat pump with energy use offset by more solar panels the better option cost-wise.

What if the whole mess could be simplified? Would it be possible to offer rebates based on kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy use reduced? That means no matter how you choose to do it, you get X dollars for 100 kWh reduced.

Dollars per kWh reduced seems quite straightforward. Yet there are a few complications to ponder. First, so as not to thwart the City's Climate Protection Plan, switching to appliances and equipment that use natural gas instead of electricity should be excluded from rebates. Second, AE it's not just overall energy use that dictates how much electric generation capacity is needed, but the peak demand. If we reduce our electric grid's peak demand – in Texas typically 4:00 to 7::0 pm during summer months – we can avoid adding generation capacity.

This is definitely something that may make more sense as Austin Energy evolves over the next several years. Currently, AE may be in need of greater cooperation between Customer Energy Solutions (which handles rooftop solar and customer energy efficiency programs), their green building program and the electric generation/distribution part of its operations. Likely the evolution of their organization toward grid management and operation as the primary function may ultimately be what makes this approach to energy efficiency practical.