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South Dakota Cities Find Success With Water Heater Programs

April 15, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 15, 2022

The cities of Volga and Howard, S.D., are finding success with water heater programs, with customers in both cities taking advantage of rebates on water heaters offered by Heartland Consumers Power District.

Volga and Howard offer Rheem Marathon water heaters for sale at the local utility.

Heartland began offering rebates to residential and commercial customers in 2015 for installing electric water heaters with a lifetime warranty. Marathon water heaters are the most popular brand fitting that description.

The program was developed because it was seen as a win-win: the customer had an efficient water heater with a lifetime warranty and the utility saw an increased electric load. They are also a great fit for a load management system.

Currently, Heartland offers a $200 rebate for the purchase of a water heater 50 to 79 gallons. For water heaters 80 gallons and larger, a $400 rebate is available.

Since Heartland began offering rebates on water heaters, customers in both Volga and Howard have qualified for a proportionately large number of rebates.

Heartland provided rebates for the installation of 291 water heaters from 2015 through 2021. Of those heaters installed, 89 were in Howard and 76 in Volga. The installations in those communities represent 56% of total installations, with 30% in Howard and 26% in Volga.

The city of Volga has been selling Marathon water heaters as far back as 2010.

The city offers both 50- and 85-gallon models, offering discounts to the customer on both. Fifty-gallon water heaters are offered at a price of $768.50, a discount of $368.50 from the city’s cost to purchase. With the $200 rebate from Heartland, the customer pays $568.50. The 85-gallon water heaters are sold for $1,165.50, which includes a discount of $365.50. After the rebate, the final cost to the customer is $765.50.

The city attributes the success of the program mostly to word-of-mouth. While the information is available on the city’s website, they don’t actively promote it.

To make it as convenient as possible, the city will deliver the water heater at no extra cost.

To get the discounted pricing, the customer must have the water heater hooked up to the city’s load management system. This helps keep the city’s peak demand down, which keeps the city’s costs down.

City Electric Superintendent Chad Collins says the program is worth continuing because minimal time is taken by city staff to run it. The city orders water heaters as needed, more when they know a new development is in the works. Because the tanks are so efficient, they don’t get complaints about them being controlled through load management.

Howard has also been selling Marathon water heaters for over ten years. The city originally started the program with the idea that it was a good customer service — since customers purchase both water and electricity from the city, efficient water heaters seemed like a good product to sell at a discount.

Like Volga, the city of Howard doesn’t advertise the Marathon program. Word-of-mouth is the main advertising tool. Local plumbers are aware of the program so when they get a call from someone needing a new water heater, they refer them to the city.

Including the rebates offered by Heartland, Howard sells the water heaters for about half price. A 50-gallon heater costs the purchaser $487.77 after rebate while an 85-gallon model costs $576.

In order to qualify for the discounted pricing, the water heater must be hooked up to the city’s load management system.

Target Tests First Net Zero Energy Location

March 27, 2022

by Vanessa Nikolic
APPA News
March 27, 2022

Target Corporation recently announced its most sustainable store yet, which will test multiple innovations that generate renewable energy and reduce the building’s emissions.

Located in Vista, California, the store will take part in a remodeling project to help guide the retailer’s efforts to achieve its sustainability goals.

The Vista location will generate renewable energy through more than 3,000 solar panels across its roof and recently installed carport canopies.

Target has applied for a net zero energy certification from the International Living Future Institute. The California store is expected to produce up to a 10% energy surplus each year that it can transmit back to the local power grid.

The building features additional environmentally friendly elements to further reduce emissions, including its HVAC heating that is powered through the rooftop solar panels, instead of natural gas. The store also made the switch to carbon dioxide refrigeration, a natural refrigerant that Target plans to implement chain-wide by 2040 to reduce its direct operations’ emissions by 20%.

Target is building on reducing its carbon footprint to support the company’s sustainability strategy Target Forward. One of the company’s commitments include achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions enterprise-wide by 2040.

While the Vista store is the most sustainable Target location to date, the company has other action items in progress. Target’s offsite solar and wind energy contracts are effectively guiding the company toward its renewable energy goal, as it has secured new partnerships that will allow it to purchase nearly half of its electricity from renewable sources later this year.

Many Target locations already use LED lighting instead of conventional lighting which has helped to conserve 10% of its stores’ energy use.

Additionally, the recycling and donations operations at the Vista store, along with other Target facilities, support the company’s goal to move 90% of its U.S. operations’ waste away from landfills by 2030 as it aims to work toward a Zero Waste certification.

The Vista site also offers electric vehicle (EV) charging spaces to support Target’s nationwide EV efforts, as the retailer offers more than 1,350 spaces at over 150 locations across 20 states.

Vermont Public Power Utilities Offer Energy Efficiency Tools For Customers

March 21, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 21, 2022

Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA) and Efficiency Vermont are teaming up with three Vermont public power utilities  — Hardwick Electric Department, Lyndonville Electric Department, and Morrisville Water & Light — to provide tools for electric customers in each town to save money by lowering the cost of investing in energy efficiency.

Customers of the three electric utilities can reduce their energy use by selecting one of three free energy savings kits, depending on where they want to focus their energy efficiency efforts:

VPPSA said that 2022 might be the year for low-and-moderate-income households to consider investing a high efficiency cold climate heat pump, as VPPSA and Efficiency Vermont will add $800 to existing incentives already available for an additional $1,000 on top of their point-of-purchase rebates. 

Utility customers who are in the market for a new appliance can take advantage of a $200 appliance coupon available through the partnership. The coupon applies to energy efficient products including refrigerators, air purifiers, air conditioners, freezers, clothes washers, and clothes dryers.

In addition to support for residential customers, Efficiency Vermont will also conduct targeted outreach to area businesses, local governments, and nonprofit organizations to identify energy saving opportunities.

VPPSA provides municipal electric utility members with a broad spectrum of services and solutions, including regulatory assistance, financial planning, and power supply.

VPPSA members include Barton Village, Village of Enosburg Falls, Hardwick Electric Department, Village of Jacksonville Electric Company, Village of Johnson Electric Department, Ludlow Electric Light Department, Lyndonville Electric Department, Morrisville Water & Light Department, Town of Northfield Electric Department, Village of Orleans, and Swanton Village Electric Department.

Bill Introduced In Congress Aims To Bolster Weatherization Funding

March 15, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
March 15, 2022

A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress this week seeks to improve public health and lower household energy costs by bolstering the federal Weatherization Assistance Program.

The Weatherization Assistance Program Improvements Act, introduced by senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Chris Coons (D-DE), aims to help low-income households that are unable to receive weatherization services because their homes are in need of significant repairs by authorizing a Weatherization Readiness Fund.

The Weatherization Readiness Fund would provide $65 million a year for five years to people whose homes need structural repairs to prepare them for weatherization assistance.

The bill also seeks to raise the amount of funding allowed to be spent on each home to keep up with current labor and material costs and would raise the cap on the amount of funding allowed to be spent on renewable energy upgrades in each home.

The Weatherization Assistance Program provides funding for measures such as window replacement, sealing air leaks, ventilation improvements, and other energy-saving improvements.

Since 1976, the Weatherization Assistance Program has helped more than seven million low-income families reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient and, on average has helped each household save $283 annually on energy bills, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). In addition, the DOE says that every dollar invested by the Weatherization Assistance Program generates $4.50 in combined energy savings and non-energy benefits such as job creation, and the more efficient houses also reduce greenhouse gas emissions that can cause climate change.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — included a total of $3.5 billion for weatherization. And the final Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2022 provides $334 million for weatherization, an increase of $19 million over previous funding levels.

In January, the DOE announced an $18 million funding opportunity made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to help enhance the impact of the DOE’s existing residential Weatherization Assistance Program.

California Community Choice Aggregator To Install Ultra-Efficient Space Heating Hot Water Systems

March 15, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 15, 2022

California community choice aggregator (CCA) Peninsula Clean Energy has partnered with Harvest Thermal Inc. to install ultra-efficient, all-electric space heating and hot water systems as part of a broader effort to replace methane gas-powered furnaces and other appliances.

At no cost, four Peninsula Clean Energy customers are receiving a system that operates a single heat pump to deliver both home heating and hot water. The system can cut carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent compared with methane gas and 50 percent compared with standard heat pump systems, the CCA said.

The system is a smart device that operates the heat pump during off-peak times when electricity is cleaner and more affordable. It turns the hot water tank into a thermal battery, closely monitoring, storing, and delivering heat and hot water for customer use whenever needed.

“Incorporating the latest weather forecasts and energy needs, and using machine learning to optimize performance, the system reduces energy bills and maximizes customer comfort,” Peninsula Clean Energy said. 

The demonstration will show how this new system can lower the cost of upgrading homes by reducing the need for service upgrades, and lower heating bills by up to 40 percent from homes that are currently hooked up to gas.

The system also offers a “filtration mode” for clean indoor air on smoggy and smoky days, and “night cooling” to create a gentle indoor breeze on warm evenings.

The demonstration program will provide Peninsula Clean Energy with data to further promote energy use when renewable power sources are more plentiful during the day and relieve stress on the grid during evening peaks.

Peninsula Clean Energy is the official electricity provider for San Mateo County and, beginning in spring 2022, for the City of Los Banos.

Founded in 2016, the agency serves roughly 300,000 customers by providing more than 3,500 gigawatt hours annually of electricity.

The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.

LES Offers $1.5 Million Of Incentives Through Sustainable Energy Program

March 4, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 4, 2022

Nebraska public power utility Lincoln Electric System (LES) is offering $1.5 million of new financial incentives this year for customers through its sustainable energy program.

Since 2009, the program has offered financial incentives to remove barriers for LES customers to use energy-efficient equipment, allowing them to save more and take a more active role in helping manage electricity demand for the entire service area.

Since the program’s inception, LES customers have accessed nearly $28 million in program incentives and spent $220 million on energy-efficient equipment and/or services.

“In total, energy efficiency projects that received SEP incentives have cumulatively saved more than 800,000 net megawatt-hours, or the equivalent annual electric use of 80,000 single-family homes,” said Marc Shkolnick, LES manager of Energy Services.

This year’s program offers incentives for: 

Additional information about the program is available here.

Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company Launches Energy Efficiency Program

February 23, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
February 23, 2022

Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) recently launched a program that will replace residential, commercial and industrial energy efficiency programs in alignment with a shift in focus to a carbon-free future.

MMWEC’s energy efficiency programs, previously known as Home Energy Loss Prevention Services and Green Opportunity, have served MMWEC and its participating municipal light plants (MLPs) for more than three decades. 

The driving purpose of the new NextZero brand is to help Massachusetts reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

MMWEC said that the new brand and its mission were developed through a rigorous strategic planning process with a subcommittee consisting of representatives of participating MLPs. The new mission emphasizes the critical role that community owned electric systems play in developing the clean energy future.

Municipal light departments participating in MMWEC’s residential energy efficiency programs through NextZero offer programs such as the “Connected Homes” demand response program, electric vehicle scheduled charging program, energy audits and rebates for energy-efficient appliances, electrification technologies and weatherization. 

Several light departments also participate in commercial and industrial energy efficiency programs, including energy efficient lighting retrofits and customized efficiency upgrades. 

Additional information about NextZero is available here.

MMWEC is a non-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created by an act of the Massachusetts General Assembly in 1975 and authorized to issue debt to finance a wide range of energy facilities. 

MMWEC provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state’s consumer-owned, municipal utilities. 

APPA-Funded Study Provides Heat Pump Water Heater Guidebook and Calculator Tool for Public Power Utilities

February 17, 2022

by Vanessa Nikolic
APPA News
February 17, 2022

A new American Public Power Association-funded study has resulted in the development of a new guidebook and calculator tool which will be useful for public power utilities interested in adopting grid-interactive heat pump water heaters (HPWHs). 

American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP), a joint action agency representing 134 members, routinely explores beneficial electrification opportunities to help its member utilities with load growth while addressing peak demand on the grid. VEIC, a non-profit organization aiming to reduce the economic and environmental costs of energy use, approached AMP about forming a partnership to study the potential for grid-interactive HPWHs in AMP member communities. AMP was eager to collaborate with VEIC and move forward with the study with the help of grant funding by the American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program.

AMP’s Assistant Vice President for Energy Policy and Sustainability, Erin Miller, played a key role and served as the project manager for AMP. She worked with VEIC, AMP’s cross-departmental team, and its members to develop the work products. 

During the project, Miller appreciated collaborating with her team and hearing from AMP members. 

“It was definitely a group effort, we had several members providing us guidance, and staff across departments were engaged,” Miller said. “VEIC was a great partner; we worked with Emily Lewis O’Brien and Chris Badger, and we built off of previous work conducted by Hawaii Energy and Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI).” 

Prior to the start of the project, the team had three goals according to Miller. They wanted to study the market potential of HPWHs in AMP’s members’ service territory, develop guidance and a program for public power utilities wishing to learn more about the technology, and develop a tool for utilities to discover what their customers’ economic and environmental benefits would be if customers switched to a grid-interactive HPWH from an electric-resistance, natural gas, oil, or propane-powered water heater.   

The Grid-Connected Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH) Guidebook contains an introduction to HPWHs, HPWH control, service provider options for HPWH control, and HPWH program case studies. 

“The Guidebook developed in this project contains a wealth of information for utilities on grid-interactive HPWHs,” Miller said. “In particular, utilities with a high percentage of customers with electric resistance water heating have the greatest peak-saving potential from adding grid-connected HPWH, while utilities with a high percentage of customers with oil/propane water heat can add new load from grid-connected HPWH with minimal peak impacts.” 

The Guidebook also helps develop recommendations to maximize benefits for both customers and utilities by addressing market opportunities and barriers and offering best practices for program design, equipment installation, and utility integration into demand response programs.  

Miller said the Excel-based Grid Connected Heat Pump Water Heater Calculator Tool is designed to assess the customer economics for installing a HPWH under different scenarios and geographic locations. Component information on fuel costs, etc. is supplied for 10 towns in AMP’s region; other users can add their own town’s energy cost data to use the tool. 

Together, the Guidebook and Calculator can help public power utilities understand both the opportunity and options for offering a grid-connected HPWH program in their territories.  

DEED members can learn more about the project in the DEED Project Library. Additional details about the DEED program are available here. 

NYPA Launches Challenge For Innovative Heat Pump

December 21, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 21, 2021

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), New York Power Authority (NYPA) and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on Dec. 20 launched an industry competition directed at heating and cooling equipment manufacturers to develop a new electrification product that can better serve the needs of existing multifamily buildings.

“By leveraging NYCHA’s building portfolio, the Clean Heat for All Challenge is designed to spur innovation by positioning the Authority as an early adopter of this technology, providing public housing residents with access to clean sources of energy through engagement with service providers and manufacturers of heat pump technologies,” NYPA said.

The challenge calls upon manufacturers to develop a packaged cold climate heat pump that can be installed through an existing window opening to provide heating and cooling on a room-by-room basis.

The envisioned product would enable rapid, low-cost electrification of multifamily buildings by reducing or eliminating many of the cost drivers inherent to existing heat pump technologies when used in resident occupied apartments. These include costly electrical upgrades, long refrigerant pipe runs, drilling through walls and floors and other construction aspects which result in high project costs, and significant disruption to residents.

NYCHA, NYPA, and NYSERDA have also engaged with the Consortium of Energy Efficiency to engage manufacturers and encourage broad industry participation in the Clean Heat for All Challenge.

The request for proposals issued by NYPA identifies a list of product specifications that manufacturers will be challenged to meet.

To incentivize participation, NYCHA will commit to purchasing the first 24,000 units from the awarded vendor or vendors that will be installed at six developments currently slated for heating plant replacement over the next five years.

NYSERDA is supporting the effort by providing additional funding from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative operating plan, which calls for the electrification of heating in New York City public housing to improve energy performance, decrease emissions, and improve resident comfort. NYSERDA will provide assistance drafting the product specifications and performing commissioning as well as measurement and verification for the demonstration units.

NYCHA will invest $250 million, in addition to the NYSERDA grant, to purchase and install the new equipment as well as provide additional improvements to the building envelopes and hot water systems.

The initiative is based on a similar product challenge that NYCHA and NYPA partnered on in the 1990s and which produced some of the first Energy Star rated refrigerators, reducing the energy use of refrigerators by over 50 percent.

If the technology developed from the Clean Heat for All Challenge is successful, NYCHA will deploy at more than 50,000 apartments over the next 10 years, to meet space heating and cooling needs with zero on-site emissions.

The type of solutions this initiative is seeking will be broadly applicable to the multifamily sector across the Northeast, NYPA said.

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and New York State Homes and Community Renewal have already confirmed their strong interest in utilizing this new type of product for their preservation and new construction pipelines.

In addition, NYCHA and NYSERDA are working together with other large public housing authorities and housing agencies in the U.S. and Canada to aggregate a larger potential demand.

These new type of heat pumps will also be applicable for net zero carbon retrofits under NYSERDA’s RetrofitNY initiative. Through the RetrofitNY Pledge, building owners have already pledged to install cost effective net-zero carbon retrofit solutions in over 400,000 dwelling units when they become available.

NYCHA and NYPA are also partnering to replace the aging gas-and-oil-fueled heating and hot water systems at a 20-story high-rise in Manhattan, with a high-efficient electric Variable Flow Refrigerant (VRF) heat pump system.

The $28 million design-build electrification project will eliminate the use of on-site fossil fuel for heating and hot water while also providing central heating and cooling to 100 percent of apartments, replacing the old, inefficient window air conditioning units that have come to define many New York City-based facades. Once complete, residents will be able to individually control the temperature in each room of their apartment.

NYCHA has been an energy customer of NYPA since 1996, partnering to complete $211 million in energy efficiency projects, saving $23 million annually and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 75,000 tons a year.

Mass. Joint Action Agency To Participate In National Heat Pump Technology Challenge

December 8, 2021

by Vanessa Nikolic
APPA News
December 8, 2021

Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to participate in a technology demonstration program for next generation heat pumps in support of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced DOE’s partnership with MMWEC on Dec. 3 at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Wind Turbine Technology Center in Boston. 

DOE is also partnering with Energy New England (ENE), the largest municipal utilities cooperative in the Northeast, as well as Eversource, an investor-owned energy company, and National Grid, a multinational electricity and gas utility company. 

ENE says its participation in the challenge ensures that its member municipal light plants have a voice during this point in the drive for carbon neutrality. 

Granholm was joined by state officials, including Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Katie Theoharides, and Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Patrick Woodcock, to discuss the partnership, which is part of DOE’s Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump (CCHP) Technology Challenge.  

Granholm mentioned that MMWEC would be part of a “consortium of those who will be getting us to the goals of efficiency and the deployment of heat pumps.”

The CCHP Challenge was announced by the Biden Administration in May and aims to reduce the carbon footprint of cold climate heating solutions by bettering the efficiency and affordability of new heat pumps. The challenge focuses on centrally-ducted, electric-only CCHPs that exceed efficiency performance at five degrees Fahrenheit or below. 

MMWEC’s participation will include recruiting sites to install a prototype heat pump in a residential unit, fostering data collection, encouraging testing of grid interactivity features, and conducting customer satisfaction surveys. 

MMWEC plans to work on developing customer incentives and pilot programs to promote the benefits of CCHP adoption. DOE will cover the costs related to equipment, installation, testing and evaluations of the pilot demonstrations. 

Bill Bullock, sustainable energy policy and program senior manager at MMWEC, said MMWEC’s involvement in the challenge highlights its leadership in bringing technology opportunities to its member municipal utilities.  

Established in 1976, MMWEC is a joint action agency that provides power supply, financial, risk management, and other services to municipal utilities in Massachusetts.