Getting Started
Program Basics
Programs come in different shapes and sizes. A buildings-focused electrification program could focus on space heating, water heating, smaller appliances, storage, or some combination. A transportation-focused program might include charging infrastructure, personal vehicles, and/or entire fleets. Whatever the target technologies, a program can be as simple and modest as a series of informational messages — or it can be an ambitious program full of heavy incentivizes. Some utilities have tackled the electrification challenge with large rebates, while others have developed innovative financing tools to make energy upgrades more affordable and attainable.
It is possible to encourage beneficial electrification without creating a program. An outreach or communications staff person could talk to co-op members or utility customers about beneficial electrification technologies, for example. But there is a big advantage of going a step further and planning an actual program, because this will enable you to make a decision that is based on what is best for your utility and for your community.
Utilities are encouraged to consider programs that make cost-effective electrification accessible to as many customers as possible, including customer classes that do not often participate in energy efficiency programs, due possibly to upfront costs. Considering ambitious programs will provide insight into how much value a program could bring to the utility and to the community.
What do we mean by a ‘program’?
Clear goals
Specific set of actions
Defined budget
Measurable outcomes
Program Examples
What kind of project do you have in mind? We built a project one-pager to spark the basic ideas you’ll need for a successful beneficial electrification program. Download and read these worksheets.
Building Considerations: Tailoring Your Strategy
A custom strategy for your utility will match your needs with the needs of your service territory and partners. This is how you help get all of your internal and external groups on board and determine the areas you will focus your efforts and around which to plan budgeting. A custom strategy is crucial for aligning the utility’s goals with your member-customers’ needs and the particulars of your service area.
For buildings-focused electrification programs, consider these questions:
What do you know about the service territory’s building stock: type, quality, quantity, age, density, etc.? (Data from the US Census and the American Community Survey may be helpful.) Are there any building types you plan to focus on (or exclude), and how would that impact the potential market for the program?
What do you know about how heating fuels are used in your service territory? Are you able to cross-reference that data with building stock information?
How would a program align with current issues and discussions already taking place?
Are there ongoing issues of energy poverty and increasing demand for bill payment assistance programs?
Community-informed utility programs that are directed to improve residential energy efficiency in the least weatherized homes can help you get ahead of these difficult issues.
Transportation Considerations: Tailoring Your Strategy
What levers can your utility pull to accelerate the growth of transportation electrification? How do any transportation-focused program elements fit into your broader beneficial electrification strategy?
Consider these questions:
How will your utility be integrating load management into your program framework?
What drives the current interest and demand for electric vehicles in your service territory?
Who locally is helping influence the demand, and who stands to be a co-beneficiary with the electric utility?
Make sure to visit Section 4’s Transportation Program Framework page (coming soon) for more information.
Understanding your local assets will help inform your broader strategy and your eventual program. Setting EV adoption and charging infrastructure goals that are informed by realistic forecasts and load planning is key to adapting to the nationwide electric transportation transition.
You won’t need to do this alone. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and its partners have experience creating free custom transportation electrification strategies with knowledge of EV markets and can help your utility by setting advanced EV goals, investigating grid implications of higher EV ownership, and incorporating EV adoption forecasts into load planning.