FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Hunter, Director of the Flex Coalition (a project of Smart-on-Smart)
[email protected]
January 12, 2023
Mr. Eddy Trevino
State Energy Conservation Office
111 East 17th Street, 610D
Austin, Texas 78774
Re: Support for the Home Efficiency Rebates Program and the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates Program
Dear Mr. Trevino,
The Flex Coalition is writing in support of the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) applying for approximately $690 million of federal funds to administer the Home Efficiency Rebates Program (Inflation Reduction Act, Sec. 50121) and the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates Program (Inflation Reduction Act, Sec. 50122). We also strongly encourage SECO to include the measured savings pathway in its Home Efficiency Rebates implementation plan.
The Flex Coalition is comprised of 27 of the nation’s leading commercial and residential demand flexibility providers, including energy efficiency, demand response, and behind-the-meter storage. Many of the coalition’s members currently do business in Texas and all of them would like to do more business in the state. The Flex Coalition companies stand ready to help make the program a success for SECO and Texas.
Applying for these funds will have the following benefits:
• Job Creation: By definition, the work to upgrade the energy efficiency of houses must be performed by local contractors. This work cannot be “offshored”.
• Resiliency: The stress on Texas’ electric system is driven in large part by home heating and cooling during extreme weather events. Making homes more energy efficient can reduce that demand overall and is a complement to other actions Texas is taking to reduce the risk of electricity shortages.
• Affordability: These funds will help Texans reduce their energy bills, thereby putting more money in their pockets to spend on other priorities.
The Home Efficiency Rebates program offers two paths for implementation: a “modeled” and a “measured” approach. States can choose one or the other or both. The Flex Coalition strongly supports the measured approach. The measured approach pays only for savings achieved, thus providing added consumer protection and taxpayer accountability. It is also more consistent with the market-oriented policy of the Texas electric grid which pays only for generation that actually delivers. The measured approach, along with associated tools and software, can also provide a foundation for demand response thereby helping to reduce peak demand, improve grid reliability, and reduce infrastructure costs.
The members of the Flex Coalition have extensive experience participating in pay for performance markets analogous to the measured approach. We stand ready to answer questions and help make the measured approach a success in Texas.
Sincerely,
Rick Counihan
Senior Policy Advisor
The Flex Coalition