South Carolina Rural Electric Co-op Pilot Project Moves Forward

EESI has been partnering with South Carolina rural electric cooperatives on a pilot project to provide residential homes with energy efficiency retrofits. Work on all 125 participating homes is now complete, concluding the pilot’s implementation phase. Upgrades varied depending on the needs of each home, but typically included repair or replacement of heating/cooling units and the corresponding duct work, attic insulation, and air sealing. Homeowners, who otherwise could not afford the upfront costs, pay for these improvements through “on-bill financing,” a low-interest loan that is paid back over time as part of their monthly electric bill. It is expected that the monthly loan payment will be offset by the new energy savings. For many homeowners, bills should still be lower after including the loan payment.

Called “Help My House,” the pilot is part of the electric cooperatives’ (co-ops) larger initiative, the Rural Energy Savings Program , which hopes to improve the energy efficiency of 225,000 South Carolina homes over the next ten years. The program is organized by the Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (Central), the state’s wholesale energy provider, and the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Inc. (ECSC), the service and trade association for the state’s 20 electric cooperatives. The South Carolina Legislature earlier passed enabling legislation for this program. Eight cooperatives participated in the pilot, intrigued by the opportunity to lower bills for their members while also preparing for expected spikes in demand over the next couple decades. With the implementation phase of the pilot complete, efforts now turn to collecting and reporting data on the energy savings of the participating homes, the results of which will inform how South Carolina rural co-ops move ahead with its Rural Energy Savings Program.

EESI has partnered with Central and ECSC during the pilot to provide advice, independent verification of the results, and documentation of lessons learned. To that end, EESI recently travelled to Columbia, SC to meet with the contractors, energy auditors and co-ops involved with the pilot as they briefed Central and ECSC. Nearly all involved expressed their support of the pilot, while also offering suggestions on ways to improve and streamline the process if the program expands.

Both the contractors, who bid for and performed the retrofit work on the homes, and the energy auditors, who made the initial determination of work needed and final approval of the completed work, were happy with the additional business that the pilot provided. A larger scale project, they said, would require their businesses to hire and train many new workers, as well as rehire those they had been forced to let go. Contractors and auditors also praised the pilot program for providing neutral third-party advice to the homeowners (from the co-op representative) on the long-term economic value of a “whole home” approach that includes duct work repair, insulation and air sealing. This made homeowners feel more comfortable and informed about the upgrades to their homes.

Most of the participating cooperatives were enthusiastic about the program and hoped to see it expand and continue. They reported that homeowners were pleased with the program and very thankful for the opportunity to improve their homes and lower their bills in a financially viable way. Word of mouth about the pilot in many service areas spurred homeowner interest that vastly outweighed the capacity of the pilot, echoing comments from contractors that support exists for an expanded program. The cooperatives, which had administered the pilot in slightly different ways, shared with each other best practices and suggestions to streamline the process.

EESI plans to share the results and experience of the pilot with relevant stakeholders and policymakers. This on-bill financing model could offer an innovative solution for co-ops and utilities in other states looking to support home retrofit programs. Legislation for a national on-bill financing program passed the House in 2010, though it failed to come to a vote in the Senate despite broad bipartisan support. A successful pilot in South Carolina may be able to reignite interest in a national program.

South Carolina’s public broadcasting station (SCETV) recently aired a piece about the pilot on the program Making It Grow .

For more information, please contact John-Michael Cross at (202) 662-1883 or eesi [at] eesi.org.