FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Hunter, Director of the Flex Coalition (a project of Smart on-Smart)
February 6, 2024
Flex Coalition members Sealed and Recurve, in coordination with Pearl Certification, today released a sample application for the Home Efficiency Rebates (HOMES) Program as a resource for state energy offices.
For the HOMES Program to be most effective, states need to move quickly to submit applications, receive funding, execute contracts, and launch their programs. Sealed, Recurve, and Pearl Certification worked with leading industry stakeholders to draft a template application to help states quickly set up their HOMES Programs. The template includes specific suggestions for how to most effectively leverage aggregators, implement upfront incentives under the measured energy savings pathway, and maximize the market transformation potential of third-party certifications.
The Inflation Reduction Act appropriated $4.3 billion in funding for the HOMES Program to support whole-home energy efficiency improvements, with larger rebates for homes that achieve higher energy savings. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has established detailed program guidelines for HOMES, and states may now apply to the DOE to receive their funding allocations.
DOE released a sample application for states on December 8, 2023, and released an update on January 11, 2024. The sample application below builds upon DOE’s sample responses and provides additional content and recommendations to help states design their HOMES Programs. This additional content will support both measured and modeled energy savings pathways that incorporate industry best practices, ensuring robust participation by households, contractors, aggregators, and market participants.
Please view the sample application here.