Energy Incentive Programs, Washington

Updated October 2011

Washington budgeted over $140 million in 2010 to promote increased energy efficiency in the state through programs administered by utilities and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (including low-income, residential and load management programs).

What public-purpose-funded energy efficiency programs are available in my state?

Washington has no public-purpose-funded energy efficiency programs.

What utility energy efficiency programs are available to me?

Seattle City Light offers a variety of energy efficiency programs to commercial and industrial customers through its Energy Smart Services initiative:

Free facility energy assessments are available to medium and large commercial customers in order to manage operating costs and identify energy-saving opportunities.
Industrial customers may receive technical assistance and financial incentives to cover the cost of an energy analysis/study, and up to 70% of efficiency project costs (based on electricity savings) including lighting upgrades, compressed air system upgrades, variable speed drives, heat recovery, electric furnace upgrades, controls, premium efficiency motors and most other measures that can save electricity.
Financial incentives, based on annual kWh savings (up to 70% of project costs), are available to medium and large commercial customers for installing energy-efficient equipment, including lighting, HVAC, controls, glazing, insulation and custom measures, as well as industrial process improvements. These incentives are available for both retrofit and new construction projects.
For new construction projects, Seattle City Light also offers funding to support design and installation of building system designs that generate energy-saving performance, and for energy efficient equipment including lighting, HVAC and most custom measures that can save energy. Seattle City Light may also elect to cover the cost of commissioning of some of the new construction measures supported by an Energy Smart Services grant.
For small commercial customers, rebates for replacing inefficient lighting are available through the Smart Business Program. Any small business in Seattle City Light's service area that is on rate ESMC or ESMS (formerly rates 31 and 56) and is not part of a chain, campus or institution is eligible for this program.
Seattle City Light offers $80 rebates on Vending Miser units. These devices reduce the energy consumption of cold drink vending machines by using an occupancy sensor to power down the lights and compressor. All rebates require an incentive contract of at least $500, and must be approved by City Light before installation.

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) offers a variety of energy efficiency programs for non-residential customers:

Commercial Custom Grants provide funding for up to 70% of the installed cost (or 70% of incremental measure cost in new construction projects) of gas or electric energy efficiency projects on existing facilities, renovations, or new construction. Eligible efficiency measures include lighting, HVAC systems and controls, water heating, variable speed drives, compressed air systems, industrial processes and building commissioning. There's no limit to grant size as long as the funding meets eligibility requirements; grants range from several hundred dollars to over one hundred thousand dollars.
A variety of rebates and incentives are available to offset the cost of efficient equipment, including lighting and lighting controls, occupancy sensors, LED traffic signals, HVAC equipment, vending machines, PC power management, commercial kitchen and refrigeration equipment, and more.
PSE offers a prescriptive approach for energy-efficient design of new buildings of up to 100,000 square feet, providing funding for up to 100% of the incremental cost of energy-efficient building design and measures. Incentives range from 50 cents to $2.60 per square foot for the basic package plus substantially more for optional enhanced measures.
PSE's Building Energy Optimization Program provides incentives of up to 100% of commissioning fees that include analysis of energy use patterns, lighting, and HVAC system performance, and operations and maintenance procedures. Facilities that follow through on recommended improvements typically achieve project payback of less than two years.
PSE provides funding and support to public agencies interested in hiring a resource conservation manager to develop and implement a plan to manage energy, water, and solid waste costs. Typically, PSE pays 25% of the first year salary, and also provides a guarantee that resource savings will exceed the individual's salary over a period of three years.

Avista Utilities offers Energy Efficiency Incentives for a broad array of electric and natural gas efficiency equipment as well as fuel-switching projects. Rebates are limited to eligible projects that achieve a simple payback of less than 8 years for lighting and 13 for other measures (e.g., HVAC, windows, insulation and renewable projects). Opportunities include:

The Demand Controlled Ventilation Incentive Program, which provides incentives at a rate of $.25 per square foot controlled, with a cap of 2,500 sq. ft. per sensor.
Site-Specific Incentives, which provide custom incentives (up to 50% of incremental cost) based on first-year energy savings for electric efficiency, fuel conversion and natural gas efficiency projects, including equipment not included under other programs.
The Commercial Lighting Incentive Program, which offers varying incentives depending on the type of replacement lamp.
Food Service Equipment Rebates, which provide rebates for purchase of qualifying energy efficient electric and natural gas equipment.
Commercial HVAC Variable Frequency Drive Incentives, which provide $80 to $100 per HP for primary pumps and fans, depending on the type of equipment installed.
The new Commercial Natural Gas HVAC program offers incentives for high efficiency natural gas furnaces ($3.25 to $4.25/kBtu), boilers ($1.25 to $1.75/kBtu) and heaters ($5.00/kBtu).
The new Commercial Windows and Insulation program offers rebates for installing qualified windows and wall, attic and roof insulation.
The new Standby Generator Block Heater program provides rebates for retrofit from a thermosiphon circulating block heater to a pump driven circulating block heater that operates continuously.
Premium Efficiency Motors Rebate, which offers incentives for installation of qualifying premium electric motors.
Power Management for Personal Computer (PC) Networks, which offers a $10 incentive per controlled PC for installation of software solutions which provide qualifying energy management and reporting functions.
The Refrigerated Warehouse Incentive Program, which offers incentives for a variety of efficiency measures including fast-acting doors, dock seals, VFDs, fan motors, bi-level lighting, and the installation of cold temperature enclosures.
Commercial Clothes Washer Rebates of $200 for purchase and installation of Energy Star or CEE-certified commercial clothes washers.
The Green Motors Initiative, which, in conjunction with the Green Motors Practices Group, provides incentives of $1 per horsepower for repair/rewinds that improve reliability and efficiency of NEMA rated motors from 15 hp to 500 hp. Incentives are paid as instant rebates on invoices from participating service centers.
The Retro-Commissioning Program, which offers incentives to customers and qualified commissioning agents for optimizing the performance of systems that have never been commissioned. Qualifying buildings must have a minimum of 50,000 square feet of conditioned space, be older than 5 years, have an energy management control system (EMCS), have an energy use index (EUI) greater than 100% of normal (according to Avista's EUI calculator), and have a minimum average occupancy rate above 50% over the previous two years.

PacifiCorp/Pacific Power offers two programs that federal facilities can take advantage of:

Washington Energy FinAnswer provides cash incentives for energy efficiency retrofits and new construction equal to $0.15 per kWh of projected annual savings, plus $50 per kW average monthly demand savings. Incentives are capped at 60% of the project cost, or for lighting, 50% of project savings. The program also incorporates a variety of engineering services, including facility energy analysis, detailed design assistance, competitive financing, commissioning, and post-installation savings verification.
Washington FinAnswer Express provides rebates for energy-efficient lighting, HVAC, new motors and green motor rewinds, building envelope measures, PC power management equipment, compressed air equipment, and custom measures in existing buildings.
Washington FinAnswer Express for new construction and major renovation projects offers rebates for energy-efficient lighting, HVAC, motors, building envelope measures, compressed air and other equipment installed in newly built facilities.

Several public utility districts (PUDs) and cities in Washington offer energy efficiency programs to their commercial customers. The following table lists current programs for some of the largest PUDs (winter peak demand > 1,000 MW). For information on additional PUD programs, see The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE).

Name of Public Utility District	Programs Offered
Snohomish County PUD No 1	Cash incentives and rebates are offered for a variety of energy efficiency measures in existing buildings and new construction projects.
PUD No 1 of Clark County	Business Conservation Programs provide technical assistance and a number of incentive programs for efficient lighting, heat pumps, industrial processes, green motor rewinds, computer power management, and custom efficiency improvement projects.
City of Tacoma Public Utilities	Business conservation programs offer incentives for energy efficiency projects including compressed air, custom building retrofits, lighting, motors and drives, and new construction.
PUD No 1 of Cowlitz County	Financial incentives for commercial and industrial customers include energy-efficient lighting, motors, industrial processes and custom projects.
PUD No 1 of Pend Oreille County	Design assistance and financial incentives are available for reducing the energy requirements of lighting, HVAC and motor systems.
PUD No 3 of Mason County	Free energy audits and a variety of rebates are available for efficient equipment and measures including heat pumps, duct sealing, lighting and custom projects in existing buildings and new construction.
City of Port Angeles	The Weatherwise Service offers rebates for energy efficiency improvements including lighting, insulation and appliances.

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) offers numerous energy conservation programs:

BPA provides project analysis, development services and financial incentives through its Energy Smart Federal Partnership. Federal facilities located in areas that are served by public utilities receiving power from BPA can receive preliminary energy assessments, project development studies or specifications, and engineering support. Financial incentives for retrofits provide up to $0.35 per first-year kWh savings (up to $0.46 for Federal Columbia River Power System) and $0.29/kWh or 2% of total building costs for new construction/major renovation projects. Incentives are capped at 100% of project cost (or 70% for projects earning more than $150,000 in incentives). In addition, a financing option is available to help federal agencies meet cost-sharing requirements. Projects at sites served by investor owned utilities may still take advantage of services but must reimburse BPA for its costs. Interested federal agencies may contact their local utility representative or Curt Nichols of BPA at cwnichols@bpa.gov, or 503-230-7515.
BPA's Implementation manual, updated semi-annually, provides utilities, program partners and regional stakeholders information on how to implement energy saving projects.
BPA's Technical Services Proposal (TSP) portal offers customers the opportunity to submit a proposal for energy efficiency technical services in the agricultural, commercial or industrial sectors. The project should be instrumental in the implementation of an energy efficiency project under one of BPA's conservation programs. A TSP generally consists of (but is not limited to) energy audits, feasibility studies, plant assessments, conservation project identification, implementation, project proposal development, and measurement and verification tasks.
BPA's Commercial and Industrial Lighting program provides access to a lighting calculator, lighting trade allies, and incentives for energy-efficient lighting retrofits. More details are available through public utilities participating in BPA's program and through many of the Pacific Northwest's lighting trade allies.
BPA's Energy Smart Design program offers incentives for new, small offices via participating BPA utilities. Interested federal agencies should contact their local utility representative for details on how to participate.

What load management/demand response options are available to me?

Puget Sound Energy offers the Voluntary Load Curtailment Service Rider, which provides credit to large customers for voluntarily reducing energy usage during peak periods. PSE notifies customers one day ahead of curtailment opportunities, indicating the curtailment period and the credit per kWh offered (equal to 50% of the current market price). To accept the offer, customers respond by pledging to curtail a specific load. Eligibility is limited to customers who can curtail at least 500 kW for a minimum of 1 hour. PSE's Personal Energy Management for Business program provides customers with nearly real-time access to hourly electricity consumption data for their facilities via the Internet.

Seattle City Light offers a dynamic pricing option, Variable Rate General Service, for customers on Schedule HDC, under which the peak and off-peak electricity charges for each day are defined based upon daily electricity market prices.

PacifiCorp/Pacific Power offers the Energy Exchange program, an internet-based, voluntary demand reduction program. PacifiCorp posts a price for each hour in which load reductions are needed, and customers may respond by pledging to curtail a specified amount of load. Participants are paid the posted price per unit of measured energy reduction in each hour of the curtailment. Eligibility is limited to customers with at least 1 MW of connected load.

What distributed energy resource options are available to me?

Numerous public utility districts in Washington offer rebates and/or loans for solar water heating and/or photovoltaic installations. Consult the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) for information.

Using revenues generated from the sales of green tags, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, accepts proposals for funding for renewable energy projects located in the Pacific Northwest. Any facility located in the Pacific Northwest (including Washington) may participate.

Puget Sound Energy's Renewable Energy Advantage Program (REAP) provides incentives from 12 cents to 54 cents per kWh generated to eligible customers who use solar PV, wind, or anaerobic digesters to generate their own electricity.

Are there energy efficiency programs sponsored by the state government?

For information on state-sponsored energy efficiency programs, contact the Energy Policy Division at the Department of Commerce.

What additional opportunities are available to me?

Pacific Northwest investor- and publicly-owned utilities, as well as public representatives, have banded together to offer energy efficiency market transformation initiatives under the auspices of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), a non-profit organization. Federal customers should be aware of NEEA initiatives that could benefit their facilities, such as the Lighting Design Lab, and the Northwest Energy Education Institute.

Federal customers whose utilities have area-wide contracts through GSA (e.g., Cascade Natural Gas), may be able to take advantage of 3rd-party financed energy efficiency projects called utility energy services contracts (UESCs). Federal facilities should contact their account executive to determine the level of each utility's participation. Information is available on GSA's Energy Center of Expertise Library Page. Federal facilities should contact their account executive to determine the level of each utility's participation.