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2014 Year in Review
 Residents |
 Businesses |
 Public Agencies |
Education, engagement and cost-cutting solutions deliver a year of success for participating contractors, multifamily property owners and public agencies enrolled with The Energy Network.
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The Energy Network - Residential
Programs
What a difference a year makes! After a bumpy beginning, the Energy Upgrade California® Home Upgrade rebate program is well-poised for a strong 2015 and is ending 2014 on a high note. Financing programs including Cool Comfort, Financing, and Home Energy Loans have been consistent performers - allowing homeowners to enjoy healthier, more efficient, comfortable homes.
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Homeowners gather at the Culver City Homeowner workshop to learn about the benefits of Home Upgrade.
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Contractors are at the heart of our energy efficiency programs. The Energy Network now has 65 registered Participating Contractors in Los Angeles County - a sharp increase from Q1 2014. This surge directly correlates to the increased Co-op Marketing, collateral mailings, and informational e-blasts. Over 100 projects were submitted for Co-op Marketing - auto wraps, print ads, billboards, and t-shirts (among others) to help contractors promote their Home Upgrade offering. The Energy Network and its partners collaborated to host more than 10 homeowner and contractor workshops. Homeowner workshops brought together influential members of the community, such as Culver City Mayor Meghan Sahli Wells, with local contractors to discuss the benefits of the program and answer questions. Contractor workshops provided an in-depth look at program requirement and an overview of the abundant marketing and project support The Energy Network offers to its Participating Contractors. Disney hosts an annual Earth Day event for its employees, where The Energy Network had the opportunity to promote Home Upgrade and financing programs. Corporate outreach was also an important part of The Energy Network's community engagement. The Energy Network was present at 20 community events, home trade shows, Earth Day booths, corporate events, and contractor conferences. Earth Month (April) was particularly busy, and provided a fantastic opportunity to participate in green-related events and talk directly to residents. In addition, the call center handled almost 400 calls from homeowners and contractors. In a groundbreaking year, The Energy Network provided no-cost training to help 461 real-estate professionals achieve the National Association of REALTORS® Green Designation certification. Certified agents help homebuyers choose a healthier, money-saving green home, or to take advantage of rebates and financing to complete energy-upgrades with the purchase of an older home. Forty-four appraisers also received training in assessing the value of a home's green features from insulation to solar. These efforts are transforming the marketplace into one where both homebuyers and home-industry professionals recognize the value of green features and upgrades. |
The Energy Network - Business
Programs
Multifamily buildings represent a major opportunity for local governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2014, The Energy Network Multifamily Program made significant strides to educate, engage and offset energy-efficiency upgrade costs for property owners. Over 7,490 units have submitted for pre-qualification in the program, and 3,487 units have enrolled. These include both affordable and market-rate buildings, ranging from 12 to 430 units in size. The program volume is now five times larger than the pilot program's.
A key to the program's success is the 43 Participating Raters-from companies large and small-who are driving results across The Energy Network service territory. These professionals are supported with marketing materials, technical trainings and continuing education events. As Raters build their businesses, they support long-term market transformation of the multifamily sector. |
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The Energy Network -
Public Agency Programs
The public agency program launched in September 2013 and a year later - by October 2014 - The Energy Network enrolled 46 agencies and identified 129 projects covering 209 facilities throughout 7 counties.
The Energy Network provides free services for participating agencies. Services include identifying and implementing energy efficiency measures working side-by-side with agency staff to provide comparative energy analyses, audits, design performance specifications and construction support in order to deliver cost-effective upgrades to public facilities faster and more effectively.
 | | Projected electric savings (kWh) by project type: water/waste-water, mechanical, street lighting and lighting as of October 2014. |
Identified projects include 59 lighting, 56 mechanical, 15 streetlighting and 18 pumping and process optimization and related water/waste-water projects with a total of 51,654,627 projected electric savings (kWh). Mechanical activities feature measures that improve the energy performance of mechanical systems such as HVAC equipment, pool pumps, or process applications. Lighting projects focus on interior and exterior building lighting, parking lot lighting, park lighting, and traffic signals. Street Lighting projects include retrofitting streetlights with more efficient lamps.
The Energy Network aims to increase the number of successful energy efficient projects that public agencies implement by providing assistance with financing options such as Energy Project Lease Financing (ELF), utility On-Bill Financing (OBF) and the California Energy Commission's Low Interest Loan Program. As of October 2014, The Energy Network processed over $7M of OBF applications and over $2M of ELF applications. |
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Survey Says - Public Agencies Realize Deeper Savings With The Energy Network
In July 2014, The Energy Network distributed the Public Agency Satisfaction Survey to determine the level of satisfaction of currently enrolled agencies regarding services provided by The Energy Network. Equally important, the survey assessed if the program was meeting its objectives primarily to be more comprehensive.
Distributed online to all active and enrolled agencies (29 of 37 as of July), the survey consisted of sixteen questions designed to collect background information on each agency as well as relevant feedback about The Energy Network's services. To maximize participation, a phone interview followed the online survey to review each agency's responses, evaluate program benefits and gather comments for program improvement.
As of September 1st, the survey boasted a 69% response rate (twenty agencies). 80% of completed surveys indicated that "The Energy Network is helping their Agency to identify comprehensive energy efficiency projects that deliver deeper energy savings." Additionally, several agencies reported that the The Energy Network effectively complemented and "filled gaps" existing in LGP and IOU services.
Respondents rated 82% of the services used as having a "high benefit" to their agency. Moreover, none of the respondents provided a low benefit rating on any services used. Audit Calculations and Technical Expertise were the most-used service.
Top suggestions for improvement included providing additional supplemental education and support for Energy Network services (Ex: in regards to robust metric reporting) and requested expansion of service territory.
Compliments were frequent, and generally focused on the professionalism and responsiveness of The Energy Network staff as well as on the overall value of the program.
"Palmdale values the comprehensiveness of the energy efficiency recommendations. With The Energy Network, we are able to do something that would not have been done otherwise. The Energy Network's ability to identify and help access funding has been extremely valuable...Technical expertise has been a huge help."
City of Palmdale
"The total package of services and the total transparency and trust we have in the Energy Network has allowed us to move forward quickly on energy efficiency projects."
City of Culver City
The Energy Network continues to collect and analyze feedback from enrolled agencies, and plans to continue to increase the program's value and effectiveness by listening, and taking action based on feedback.
To learn more about The
Energy Network visit theenergynetwork.com or
contact us at info@theenergynetwork.com .
About The
Energy Network
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) authorized The Energy Network to serve public agencies and their constituencies throughout Southern California.
The Energy Network's mission is to harness the collective action of public agencies and their constituents and to help them save energy by providing needed resources and technical expertise. The pilot phase is funded through the end of 2014.
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This Program is administered by the County of Los Angeles and funded by California utility ratepayers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. |
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