Cozy Home Performance submits RFP to be Mass Save vendor
Yesterday Cozy Home Performance LLC submitted a response to an RFP to provide energy audit services in support of CSG (Conservation Services Group) contracts with their utility clients, National Grid and NStar. With a broadening network of energy assessment and weatherization service providers, Mass Save, the rate payer funded utility residential energy efficiency program, has a chance to be a catalyst for an innovative home performance industry that has yet to take hold in Massachusetts.
Since the Green Communities Act became law in Massachusetts, requiring utility companies to make all cost-effective investments in energy efficiency, independent energy audit providers and qualified home performance contractors have been advocating for an opportunity to work with the Mass Save program. Historically the Lead Vendors, with sizable utility company contracts, have been both administering and providing energy efficiency services for the rate payer funded programs. With substantial targets for energy savings set by the utility Program Administrators with the over-site of the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC), Massachusetts utility energy efficiency programs can benefit by expanding the network of qualified Mass Save providers.
Utility incentives drive investment in energy efficiency
Utility incentives and rebates are a proven catalyst for investment in more building energy efficiency which has additional benefits: increased occupant health and comfort, increased building durability and value, and savings in emissions and fuel bills. The Mass Save program provides an incentive of up to $2,000 and 0% financing up to $15,000, called the Heat Loan, for qualified energy efficiency improvements. May 2010 is a targeted start date for the evolved Mass Save National Grid and NStar programs that enables selected home performance contractors to deliver utility incentive eligible services to their customers. The RFP process is an important first step, though kinks need to be worked out before the qualified independent companies can successfully work with the program.
Utility customers will benefit from having more vendor options
This ‘opening’ of the program is excellent news for homeowners who may want to invest in a scale of home performance improvements that will achieve greater energy savings than the existing Mass Save program is structured to deliver. Up until now companies that provide comprehensive energy assessment and retrofit services targeting 25- 50% home energy savings, like Cozy Home Performance, were ironically in competition with the Mass Save program as we could not provide utility incentives to our clients- the majority of which had called us after going through the Mass Save process and want to achieve deeper energy savings. (Several Gas programs in Eastern MA had been structured to include independent weatherization contractors)
As utility company Program Administrators work out the details pertaining to the RFP Cozy Home Performance and other Independent providers just submitted, we are hopeful that the new program structure will support an innovative home performance industry. We are already hearing from many homeowners in the Western MA region that they expect to invest in significant efficiency measures when there is a broader network of Home Energy Assessment providers and approved install contractors.
Excerpt from a MA DOER report: Energy Efficiency in MA: Our First Fuel :
Beginning in 2010, Massachusetts will deliver energy savings to residential, business, and institutional energy users at an unprecedented scale. A cadre of energy specialists, HVAC contractors, weatherizing experts and other technicians will deliver dramatic improvements in building performance and comfort across the state. And, by making home-grown energy efficiency the first fuel to meet our energy needs, we will create local jobs, cut this state’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, and reduce pollution that causes global warming.
