ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate Program

1
ENERGY STAR - Appliance Rebate Program

• John Olthuis
• Manager of Customer Service
• Barrie Hydro Distribution Inc.

2
Who are we?

• Barrie Hydro is a Local Distribution Company
  servicing 66,000 electricity customers in Simcoe
  County, Ontario.
• Currently employ 112 fulltime staff
• Net Book Value -115.6 million
• 11,000 poles
• 9,000 transformers
• 40 transformer stations
• 830 km underground conductor
• 690 km overhead conductor
• 66,000 meters

3
(No Transcript)
4
Project Goals

• Increase the awareness of ENERGY STAR qualified
  appliances
• Provide a financial incentive to encourage
  considering an ENERGY STAR appliance over a
  conventional appliance
• Build a unique program with a limited budget and
  launch the program in record time.

5
Description

• Open to All Residential and Small Business
  customers.
• Rebate based on 8 percent of purchase price to a
  maximum of 200.00 per household/business
• Multiple ENERGY STAR purchases per household
  encouraged.
• Any ENERGY STAR qualified appliance!

6
Description continued

• Appliances include ENERGY STAR Qualified
  Refrigerators, Front Loading or Top Loading
  Clothes Washers, Dishwashers
• We also included LCD/Plasma Televisions/Monitors
• Office/Home Entertainment Equipment
• Air Conditioners, Dehumidifiers and Furnaces.
• Any ENERGY STAR qualified appliance!

7
Description continued

• The key to the success of launching the program
  quickly was to keep it simple.
• Keep it simple for the customer, the retailers
  and for our utility.
• The first step was registering with NRCan and
  registering as an ENERGY STAR Participant.
• Forms were drafted and reviewed by NRCan for
  content and to assure we met their requirements.

8

9
(No Transcript)
10
Description continued

• From concept to launch only two and one half
  weeks transpired.
• The media was contacted and press releases
  regarding the launch were distributed.
• Forms were printed and distributed as a bill
  insert to our 58,000 residential and small
  business customers over a period of a month.
• Retailers were contacted and forms were hand
  delivered to the retailers and a verbal
  description of the plan was delivered to the
  store managers.
• To keep administration simple, rebates were
  issued as a credit directly to the customers
  active account.

11
Description continued

• Program was originally scheduled to run from mid
  April 2005 to December 15, 2005.
• Original Budget was 115,000.00. Due to customer
  demand budget was expanded to 170,000.00
• Customer demand continued, leading to early
  termination of the program on November 23, 2005
  as we were exceeding budget.
• Customer participation was over 4 in just 7
  months.

12
Description continued

• In order to increase the awareness of ENERGY
  STAR, Barrie Hydro provided the local Food Bank
  with 3,500 ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs
• The CFLs were distributed 2 per customer in the
  Christmas hampers.
• Comments from the Director of the Food Bank
  indicated that this gesture was greatly
  appreciated by all recipients.
• Barrie Hydro also contributed 50 strings of LED
  Seasonal Lights to the local Art Centres
  Festival of Trees event. A gesture once again
  greatly appreciated by all.

13
Program Analysis

• Each application had to be verified and receipts
  confirmed.
• The ENERGY STAR website was an invaluable tool.
• Interesting to note that early applications often
  came from retail sales representatives.
• The retailer and sales representative buy-in
  helped drive the program.

14
Program Analysis

• Striking BC dock workers created some issues as
  appliances were stuck in port causing retailers
  to bring in stock from the US.
• On occasion the US ENERGY STAR site had to be
  used to confirm qualification as some product
  model numbers were different than those on the
  Canadian site.
• Rejected applications were set aside and, where
  possible, customers were contacted.
• The key rejection related to failure to provide
  proof of purchase.

15
Program Analysis

• An Access database was built to track the
  applications.
• Data was input upon receipt. One clerk was
  assigned on a part time basis to process the
  applications on a daily basis.
• Overall over 1,900 or 2.2 million in ENERGY STAR
  qualified appliances were purchased.
• Approximately 290 were rejected due to lack of
  proof of purchase or were not qualified.
• An additional 192 or more qualified applications
  were rejected due to depletion of rebate funds.

16
Program Analysis
17
Program Analysis

• Clearly the number one appliance was a Clothes
  Washer followed by a Refrigerator and Dishwasher.
• The Ontario Energy Board, (OEB) provides a
  worksheet to determine annual savings.
• Even though results from our applications show
  that the refrigerators were replacements, the OEB
  only provide an incremental savings of 75 kWh per
  refrigerator. (75 kWh is the estimated annual
  savings of an ENERGY STAR qualified fridge over a
  modern conventional fridge)
• The following graph depicts annual megawatts
  saved relative to volume of products sold.

18
(No Transcript)
19
Program Analysis

• Customers were asked if the program influenced
  their buying decision as part of the application.
  
• Customer response indicated that approximately
  69 said yes.
• Early applications had a lower response rate but
  we believe this was an awareness issue.
• As volumes picked up so did the favourable
  response rates.
• This is a good indicator that approximately 31
  percent of the customers would have purchased
  ENERGY STAR qualified appliances regardless of
  the financial incentive offered by Barrie Hydro.

20
Observations

• Be prepared for overwhelming success and budget
  for it!
• Communication is key. The success of this program
  is based mainly on our successful communication
  with NRCan, the retailers and our customers.
• Be aware that you will receive some negative
  responses from customers who do not qualify due
  to misinformation or tardiness in making
  application for the rebate.
• Be clear that funds are limited and reinforce
  this.
• Keep the press involved. Regular press releases
  help with the launch, enhance participation and
  help when winding the program down.

21
Next Steps

• We intend to continue supporting ENERGY STAR
  through our newsletters and website.
• Investigating opportunities to work with ENERGY
  STAR for New Homes.
• Investigating a Solar Generation pilot.
• Investigating a Solar Water Heating system to
  supplement our buildings heating system.

22
Questions?
23
Contact information

• John Olthuis
• jolthuis_at_barriehydro.com
• 705.722.7244 ext 241
• Fax [phone]
• www.barriehydro.com