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Challenge

Historically, tenants of low-income multifamily residences in Pennsylvania have not been able to take advantage of their electric utilities’ energy conservation initiatives as a result of limited coordination with utilities and building owners.

New energy-efficiency programs – the result of Act 129 legislation for utilities to reduce electricity consumption – have focused efforts to improve access for multifamily properties and proven to be very popular among tenants and landlords. Individually metered units and master metered buildings are both eligible.

The challenge for many utilities was finding an efficient way to engage multifamily building owners and deploy the teams of field technicians required to perform the on-site audits and subsequent energy-efficient measure installations.

 

Solution

CMC Energy Services found a way to streamline the process, enabling faster, more responsive service for multifamily residences.

Starting with the initial customer outreach, more than 500 multifamily properties were contacted, using phone calls, email, letters, flyers, and canvassing.

At the same time, CMC minimized the number of steps to schedule an audit, train and deploy a large number of field technicians, ensuring appointments could be kept and performed efficiently.

Once the initial audit is performed, the field technicians install a variety of energy-saving measures, including LED light bulbs, advanced power strips, low-flow shower heads, and faucet aerators. They also provide educational instruction on energy efficiency to individual tenants as well as landlords.

Results

Within a two-and-a-half-year period, CMC performed audits and installations on 7,948 units. Previously, without the streamlined process in place, only 1,344 units were serviced – one-sixth of the number completed by CMC.

The key to the program’s success has been providing a single point-of-contact for tenants and their landlords. CMC is able to schedule visits on the first contact with the customer, and with the number of field technicians available, can be on site within a few days.

And the electricity savings? For one housing authority, 3440 LED lights, 525 advanced power strips, and 159 furnace whistles were installed, providing electricity savings of 279,280 kWh/year. That provided a total of $37,702 per year in electricity savings for the housing authority with zero cost for the participants and property owner.

7,948 units completed in 2.5 years

500+ properties contacted

1 single point-of-contact for multi-family customers

Savings for one housing authority properties

279,280 kWh/year saved

$37,702 total yearly savings

$284,220 total value of equipment and services CMC provided

$0 landlord contribution

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