In order to achieve all cost-effective conservation, efficiency programs must reach all customer segments with those cost-effective opportunities. The Northwest Power Act has required that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) distribute the benefits of its resource programs “equitably throughout the region.”[1] Much of the work to ensure equity in programs must be done at the local utility level, as it requires an understanding of the local building stock and other infrastructure, cost-effective measure opportunities, historic accomplishments, local demographic, and other data. The Council has identified the four following recommendations in support of these efforts: establish diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics for programs, targeted weatherization, develop commercial end-use intensity database and target buildings with high intensity, and pursue co-funding opportunities.
Diversity Equity and Inclusion Metrics for Programs
Because understanding equity of program delivery is best done at the local level, regional efficiency programs, including Bonneville, the Energy Trust of Oregon, and utilities, should continue to develop the tools and data necessary to analyze their individual service territories and understand equity gaps. In developing these tools and collecting data, efficiency programs may want to partner with NEEA to leverage their expertise and datasets to support local efforts. For the public utilities, Bonneville should work to enhance efforts to assist their utilities in filling equity gaps, particularly those small and rural utilities with limited resources. As part of this work, Bonneville, Energy Trust, and utilities should perform a gap analysis to identify areas where further research and data are needed.
The Council recommends that the region convene a series of workshops to investigate existing equity data—encompassing generation, transmission and distribution, and demand-side resources—, share publicly available data sources, and perform a gap analysis to identify areas where further research and data are needed.
Targeted Weatherization
Since the first power plan, residential weatherization has been an important efficiency measure for the region. Weatherizing home reduces the HVAC requirements of the house, provides for better occupant comfort, and can also improve the livability of a home. The Council analyzed data from the Residential Building Stock Assessment that indicates the long-standing regional focus on weatherization has reached the vast majority of homes. This was achieved through a combination of program activities retrofitting existing homes and the adoption of residential building codes for new construction. The Council analysis also shows that of those pockets remaining, the homes tend to be older and smaller with less efficient heating. Those homes are also more likely to have higher energy burdens while being occupied by renters and individuals with lower incomes.
Given these outstanding gaps in achieving weatherization, the Council recommends that the region and Bonneville have a focused effort on findings those homes that have been missed by prior activities. This specifically targets homes with no or very low insulation levels,[2] poor duct sealing, and insufficient air sealing. The Council recognizes that performing weatherization in these homes may not be cost-effective, and that addressing these homes will require the region and Bonneville to go above and beyond the target amount for these specific cases.
The Council recognizes that in some cases, these homes may require basic construction upgrades prior to or in parallel with insulation efforts. Those efforts should be addressed, partnering with other agencies as needed, to ensure that the resulting home is safe and comfortable for the occupants. Since the region already has robust Low Income Weatherization Programs, the Council recommends expanding those to handle this effort, recognizing that some of these homes may be outside of income requirements. By finding these homes and addressing this gap, the region will be able to achieve more equitable distribution of this important efficiency measure. For homes with significant deficiencies, a home replacement program may be warranted, and in those cases, a co-funding approach is necessary. For renter-occupied homes, the program should ensure that improvements maintain affordability for tenants.
Develop Commercial End Use Intensity Dataset and Target Buildings with High Energy Intensity
Similar to the residential sector, there are historic inequities in the delivery of energy efficiency to commercial customers. Unlike the residential sector, the specific measure gaps are harder to identify due to the many building types and customer segments. To better understand the needs, NEEA, with support from the region and Bonneville should develop a reliable commercial building energy use intensity data set. This data set should leverage existing sources where possible, such as the Commercial Building Stock Assessment and local jurisdiction building performance databases. At a minimum, it should capture information about energy use (in total and by fuel type), as well as building type, location (state and climate zone), size, and any other important customer segment characteristics.
Once this dataset is developed, the region and Bonneville should establish EUI targets by building type, similar to the approach taken by the Washington Clean Buildings law. Developing EUI targets for building types will enable efficiency programs to identify those commercial customers with significantly high energy use relative to comparable buildings. This provides a market sector neutral approach to identifying those customers most in need of energy efficiency measures. For example, CBSA data suggests that many small businesses have relatively higher EUIs than their counterparts. By establishing EUI targets and focusing efficiency program efforts on those buildings, utilities are likely to address any existing gaps (whether it be a small business or another building missed due to other barriers). The goal is to increase the equity in distribution of cost-effective efficiency benefits across all commercial customers.
Pursue Co-Funding Opportunities
Some energy efficiency provides benefits beyond those tied to the power system or environmental considerations. Additionally, as recommended for residential weatherization, there may be some energy efficiency that the region and Bonneville wants to pursue above and beyond the cost-effective amount to capture those benefits and address past inequities. In these cases, programs should explore co-funding opportunities, partnering with other organizations to achieve the mutual benefit.
One successful example of co-funding is the Energy Trust of Oregon’s Manufactured Home Replacement pilot. The goals of this pilot were to replace aging, energy inefficient manufactured homes with new models that have significantly better insulation and are more livable. To support this project, Energy Trust worked with outside entities to explore and develop financing options that provided the funding needed for this project. The Energy Trust also worked with housing and community development organizations in developing opportunities that met the needs of the customers they were serving.
[1] Northwest Power Act, Section 6(k), 94 Stat. 2722.
[2] Specifically, homes with a heat loss per square foot (UA/sqft) of greater than 0.5. These homes will likely have R-5 or less insulation in any cavity and single-pane windows.