Energy Federation

Product distributionsince inception efi has worked with low income weatherization assistance program (wap) providers, and the contractors they utilize, to provide quality weatherization, ventilation and efficient lighting products to retrofit homes inhabited by low income families. Efi is the primary supplier of Energy efficient products to a network of community action agency wap sub-grantees in Massachusetts. Some of these measures are funded with utility rate-based system benefit charges (sbc) dollars, allowing federal wap funds to stretch further to enable more low-income households to be served. During fy 2023 $1,800,000 worth of Energy conservation products were shipped to agencies and food banks by efi for installation in people's homes. Efi also continues to play an important role supporting the work of builders and contractors. Efi inventories many of the types of products needed for the construction of Energy efficient homes, including air sealing and insulation products, high-tech ventilation systems and fans, lighting and hvac controls, along with water efficient devices. During fy 2023 efi shipped $5,300,000 million worth of these types of products to the tradespeople who depend on efi's product and logistics expertise.in addition, making Energy efficiency-related products available to consumers through mail order programs and transactional ecommerce marketplaces are extremely effective ways to cost effectively stimulate increased use of Energy efficient products, an area in which efi is a leader. These programs offer utility-sponsored instant discounts on products ranging from Energy star certified light bulbs to high performance shower heads to advanced power strips, smart thermostats, and Energy star certified appliances. During fy 2023 efi attracted 3,100,000 million visitors to our marketplaces, resulting in over 94,000 orders being placed by customers of our electric and gas utility clients for approximately 215,000 products. Sales through this channel exceeded $23 million during fy 2023.an important component of efi's mission is also to find promising new Energy saving products, and to devise creative ways to bring them to market. Efi has helped drive the transition from compact fluorescent lighting products to leds, which deliver both greater savings and better performance than fluorescents. We were instrumental in introducing smart thermostats to utility-sponsored programs. We have successfully promoted the use of Energy star certified ev charging stations through utility-sponsored marketplace, Energy star certified room air purifiers, and outdoor electric power equipment (such as electric lawnmowers) in parts of the country in which utilities are not simply focused on increasing Energy efficiency among their customers, but on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. More recently, we are adding Energy star large appliances to our offering, possible through a partnership with ge appliances, Energy star ductless heat pumps, manufactured by mr. Cool, and wi-fi enabled smart circuit breaker panels from span.io.

Incentive servicesduring efi's history the organization has processed incentives for hundreds of millions of Energy efficient products and measures, including Energy efficient lighting, appliances, high efficiency hvac equipment, advanced power strips, insulation and air sealing measures, and renewable Energy systems, having issued approximately $3 billion worth of incentives on behalf of our clients to-date. Incentives such as these are to encourage consumers and businesses to invest in Energy efficient products and measures that they might not otherwise. The types of incentive services that efi makes available to utilities include the following: upstream rebates, in which the incentive agreement is typically executed between the utility sponsor and a manufacturer/retailer, result in the customer price for the Energy efficient product being discounted by the amount of the incentive provided by the utility. Efi verifies the purchase data provided by the manufacturer/retailer and reimburses the manufacturer/retailer. Midstream rebates, for which customer and measure eligibility is confirmed by a retailer or distributor, with the utility rebate applied by the distributor during the purchase. Efi verifies the customer and measure eligibility and reimbursed the midstream distributor. Downstream rebates are those in which the end-user must apply for a rebate subsequent to the purchase of the Energy efficient measure. Efi usually supports these programs through the deployment of an online site through which required information may be entered and/or uploaded. Efi sometimes enters information from downstream rebates on behalf of the customer, but today management of downstream programs consists more of reviewing and verifying customer-submitted data. Instant rebates allow eligible customers to verify their eligibility for a utility rebate on a given product through their smart phone, select from a list of participating retailers, and have a discount code barcode sent to their phone via text that will apply the utility rebate during checkout at the retailer. The savings from the products and measures for which utilities offer financial incentives (rebates) provide significant benefits to consumers and businesses in the form of lower Energy bills, they reduce the need for additional power plant development associated with electricity generation, and they result in reduced atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gasses.