Statewide Non-Electric Benefits Development in Massachusetts

Rudolf Boentgen and Steve Bonanno, NSTAR Electric

Keywords

Abstract

A statewide consensus has been developed in Massachusetts among electric utilities and non-utility parties for the uniform treatment of Non-Electric Benefits (NEBs) associated with the implementation of Energy Efficient Measures (EEMs). The purpose of this effort was to identify and quantify any ancillary benefits associated with these measures that could enhance their probability of adoption, increase their value, or possibly decrease the incentive requirements needed to foster their adoption. NEBs for both Residential, and Commercial and Industrial (C&I) measures were investigated separately but both efforts took a two-pronged approach. The initial Residential effort concentrated on establishing common algorithms for calculating NEBs currently included in the electric investor-owned utilities benefit/cost calculations for residential non low-income programs. The second approach focused on identifying any additional Residential NEBs that could be quantified and included in the benefit/cost calculations. For C&I, the benefits were initially developed for prescriptive C&I EEMs. Then an effort was launched to identify and quantify NEBs for Custom EEMs.

In all cases, the NEBs selected were to be definable, quantifiable, significant, and likely to be recognized by the user.

This paper presents the current status of the initiative along with a proposed development path for future program years.