What were you doing in 1991? The early 90s was a time of grunge music, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Michael Jordan just won his first NBA Championship. Though the times were wildly different, some things – like CMC managing PECO’s Low-Income Usage Reduction Program (LIURP) – have stayed exactly the same.
First, let’s touch on what CMC looked like back then. In 1991, CMC was much smaller than today, with less than 30 employees. Our name was Conservation Management Corporation; that’s where we get the “CMC” in CMC Energy Services.
CMC’s founder, Doris Ikle, knew she could help low-income customers save money on their utility bills. After she realized there was a market for her startup company, she began working hard to expand CMC’s service offerings.
At the time, we had two locations, one in Pennsylvania and a small office in New Jersey. Connecticut, Massachusetts and Illinois weren’t even a thought. PECO, Baltimore Gas and Electric and Pepco were some of our first contracts, and the PECO LIURP program was one of CMC’s first large contracts.
LIURP is a statewide utility program in Pennsylvania that helps income-eligible residential customers reduce their energy use and monthly bills. Can you believe CMC has managed this program for 33 uninterrupted years and served more than 150,000 customers? When CMC first began servicing this program it had a very small team. In fact, Leila Banihani, CMC’s vice president of Operations, was once LIURP’s program manager!
“For a short period early in my career at CMC, I had the privilege of managing the PECO LIURP program,” Banihani said. “At the time, it was a small yet incredibly impactful program. It’s remarkable to see how much the program has grown and evolved over the years, both in scale and in its ability to help low-income families reduce energy costs and improve their quality of life.
What’s been especially rewarding is watching so many of our team members grow while working in the PECO LIURP program—advancing into leadership roles and bringing their expertise to other programs,” she added. “CMC’s 33 years of continuous implementation is a testament to the program’s importance and our company’s dedication.”
LIURP delivers usage reduction services and energy education to more than 3,500 customers annually. The program performance has continually increased energy savings from electric heating jobs and gas heating jobs. Usage savings from electric and gas heating upgrades are now averaging 10.5 percent, and 7.2 percent respectively.
With numbers trending positively and utility partnerships firing on all cylinders, the LIURP program is poised for growth. Maximizing program returns for customers is a key goal of the team.
“Customers are now able to receive services they would not have previously qualified for,” said Alex Dougherty, associate program manager. “For example, if a customer’s PECO-fueled hot water tank went bad, but their basement steps were not safe enough for the contractors to use when completing the work, the built-in health and safety budget can eliminate that barrier so CMC can effectively remedy their issues.”
LIURP is serviced by 13 CMC employees, including a supervisor team, technicians and auditors all operating out of CMC’s Philadelphia office.
“We’ve taken to calling the program ‘big LIURP’,” Steven Cobb, program manager said, “We are servicing more customers, offering more measures, getting better health and safety results and are continually adding more partnerships. Our major strength comes from our partnerships with our utility managers. I’m proud to report that we’ve received a no-bid extension to continue servicing the program through 2027.”
Programs like LIURP are integral to CMC’s ongoing success and consistency is key. Some companies don’t even stay in business for 33 years, let alone provide the same high-quality utility reduction services to the low-income communities of Pennsylvania.
Hats off to the entire LIURP team for their hard work and dedication, allowing CMC to manage and improve this program for decades to come.