10-01-10 BPU RPT 10 - Laserfiche WebLink

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RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum P 0 8 L I C urILIrIE5 BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: October 1, 2010 ITEM NO: 10 SUBJECT: THE WHOLE HOUSE REBATE PROGRAM ISSUE: Approval is requested to continue the Whole House Rebate Program which incentivizes property owners to take a whole house approach to retrofitting property with energy and water efficient measures. RECOMMENDATIONS: That the Board of Public Utilities recommend that the City Council: 1. Approve the continuation of funding for the Whole House Rebate Program; 2. Approve funding in the amount of $500,000 from the Public Benefits Unprogrammed Funds Account to fund, on a proportional basis, all measures within the Whole House Rebate Program that are related to electric conservation; and 3. Approve funding from the Water Reclamation Surcharge Unprogrammed Funds Account in the amount of$100,000 to fund,on a proportional basis, all measures within the Whole House Rebate Program that are related to water conservation. BACKGROUND: On June 15, 2009, the City Council authorized the submission of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant,which included funding for a"Green Home Rehab Program. Since May 2010, Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) has conducted a pilot program known as the Whole House Rebate Program (Program). The pilot Program was funded by Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funding and consolidated all the residential rebates that RPU offers in order to give a "one stop shop"to homeowners. To incentivize customers to implement multiple measures, RPU assigned a point value to a variety of measures that are designed to save water, energy and money. Customers who install a minimum of two (2) of the listed measures received points based on the energy and water savings of those measures. The sum of those points qualify the customerfor an additional rebate based on multiple tiers.The more points accumulated,the higher the rebate. The pilot Program has been very successful in the four months since the first Whole House Rebate was issued in late May. It has received and processed over 200 applications, issued over$620,000 in rebates, and has leveraged better than a 2:1 investment ratio leading to nearly $1.5 million reinvested in the community. Considering the significant impact the Program has had on the community, RPU is recommending continuing the program through Public Benefit funding with adjustmentto the incentive tiers in order to create a more sustainable structure. The suggested adjustments are:7-9 points will receive a 150% rebate; 10-19 points will receive a 200% rebate; 20 points and over will receive a 250% rebate. With these adjustments a consumerwho installs a number of measures and their point value totals 21 points, they would be eligible forthe 250%rebate. If the normal rebate amounted to$1,250,the Program participant could potentially earn an additional $1,875 in rebates totaling $3,125 in rebated monies.