Energy Evaluation in Europe- in the Paris suburbs

Europeans are wrestling with competing priorities as energy costs rise amid climate concerns. The conference location, nestled at the Electricite de France (EDF)’s campus on the outskirts of Paris, attracted Europeans interested in discussing advances in program evaluation primarily. Some of the key takeaways included: (https://energy-evaluation.org/2022-europe-conference/)

• Discussion and debate over quantifying multiple benefits
• Standardizing the definition of fuel poverty
• Transparent efficiency indicators
• Addressing untapped opportunities through early replacement

Congratulations to Wally Nixon,

ACEEE Achievement Winner and long-time Arkansas Energy Champion (https://www.aceee.org/press-release/2022/08/aceee-announces-2022-champions-energy-efficiency-buildings)

“Wally Nixon, Arkansas Public Service Commission (energy policy): For his years of sustained work as a visionary and connector at the forefront of energy policy, leading Arkansas to its position as a leader for energy efficiency in the Southeast and a national model for innovative utility policies and programs.”

Well-Done and Much Deserved, Wally! As the Independent Evaluation Monitor (IEM) in Arkansas, our team has witnessed Wally’s leadership, vision, and foresight firsthand. He has laid the groundwork for successfully implementing Arkansas’ award-winning energy efficiency programs. 

De”coding” the Northwest

Our firm has teamed with ADM Associates to explore the impact of building codes throughout the Northwest. These studies include:

• A process evaluation for the Energy Trust of Oregon focusing on the effects of building code changes for its commercial buildings program- Energy Trust of Oregon wants to know how the retail new construction market is adapting to energy code changes made in 2019 and 2021. This information will inform Energy Trust’s efforts to develop a new program design that aligns with the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) requirement for calculating Total Resource Cost (TRC) at the measure level while encouraging large portions of the market to participate in the Program. 
• Market Progress Evaluation Report (MPER #2) for the NEEA Energy Codes program. This study has two main objectives: 1) provide feedback and recommendations on the current logic model and 2) develop metrics to evaluate the program’s progress toward goals related to the Codes team’s training and education activities.

The results from these studies will be published in mid-year 2023.

PAYS Program Goes Statewide in Missouri

The Missouri Public Service Commission extended the Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS) program for another year and has broadened the scope to include gas and electric utilities. Katherine will lead the process evaluation for Evergy’s second program year, documenting how Spire, the gas utility, and Evergy, have coordinated outreach activities to target gas and electric customers. This innovative dual-fuel approach provides low-cost financing to low-and moderate-income customers, including renters. Missouri is showing other states how PAYS financing is done.