Hawaii Energy, the ratepayer-funded energy conservation and efficiency program for Hawaii, Honolulu and Maui counties, is launching the Hawaii Energy Efficiency Auction to find out just how innovative and cost-effective the market can be when it comes to helping residents and businesses save energy.
The auction is an open call for contractors, developers, energy efficiency solution providers, energy service companies, energy vendors and property managers to submit qualified energy-efficiency projects to compete for up to $2.1 million in incentive funds to offset project costs.
Proposed projects must reduce energy consumption and deliver one or more of the following: improved cost-effectiveness compared to existing Hawaii Energy offerings; increased energy efficiency in high energy consumption or hard-to-reach geographic areas; or mass installations of specific energy efficiency technologies or offerings.
The Hawaii Energy Efficiency Auction is one of many upcoming energy-efficiency initiatives being developed under the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission’s guidance and leadership to help electric ratepayers maximize their energy savings. The goal of the auction is to identify and enable turnkey energy-efficiency projects that provide the best value, based on first-year and lifetime energy savings.
The request for project applications and an application form are available online at auction.hawaiienergy.com. Applications must be received online, via email or in hard copy by 4 p.m. Sept. 29. Companies that are licensed and insured to conduct business in Hawaii can submit an application. There are no application fees.
“Since the inception of Hawaii Energy five years ago, we’ve made tremendous strides in saving ratepayers energy and money on their electric bills. However, there is still great untapped potential to expand our reach to help even more residents and businesses,” said Ray Starling, Hawaii Energy program director. “With our new efficiency auction, we’re calling upon industry professionals to demonstrate their ingenuity and market savvy to bring additional energy-saving solutions to electric customers.”
Proposed projects must serve electric utility ratepayers in Hawaii, Honolulu or Maui counties who pay the Public Benefit Fee charge on their electric bills. Projects that are already in contract do not qualify for the auction.
More than $977,000 is set aside for selected residential projects requiring a minimum incentive commitment of $10,000. Additionally, more than $1.14 million is earmarked for commercial projects with a minimum incentive requirement of $50,000 per selected project. There are two project categories: Targeted Projects which focuses on specific residential or commercial target markets or specific technologies and Innovative Projects which are new energy-efficiency technologies not currently offered by Hawaii Energy.
Residential target markets include renters and hard-to-reach geographic areas. Specific technologies may include solar thermal water heaters for multifamily homes, LED lighting, smart thermostats, occupancy sensors and whole home monitors. Commercial target markets consist of professionally managed housing, schools, health care, small businesses and restaurants, as well as businesses in hard-to-reach geographic areas. Specific technologies may include LED lighting, controls, cold storage, kitchen equipment, demand response as an energy-efficiency initiative, business submetering and recommissioning or retro-commissioning.
Interested participants must submit an application along with an estimated energy savings worksheet and project proposal online at auction.hawaiienergy.com, via email to John Rei at reij@leidos.com, or hard copy to Hawaii Energy at 1132 Bishop Street, Suite 1800, Honolulu, HI 96813. Applicants will be notified if their project is selected by Oct. 17. Preference will be given to projects that can be completed by May 30, 2015. Longer duration projects may be accepted based on value to the program. For more information, call Rei at 839-8823.