Focus on Energy issues RFP for energy-efficiency program

Focus on Energy is looking to help pay for large energy-efficiency projects in the state.

The group last week issued a request for proposals seeking users of large amounts of energy that wish to become more energy efficient. Focus on Energy, which gets most of its money from contributions from the state’s investor-owned utilities, provides incentives for energy-saving projects that otherwise wouldn’t be completed,

Specifically, Focus on Energy’s RFP is for its Large Therm Project Accelerator, which is meant for what the organization calls “Large Energy Users.” A large energy user is a customer that each month uses at least 1,000 kilowatts or 100,000 therms of natural gas each and, in any month, has been billed at least $60,000 for electricity, natural gas or both.

According to the RFP posting, a single energy-efficiency project can receive an incentive capped at $400,000. Applicants can request an incentive of up to $1 per annual therm saved, and the incentive can cover up to 50 percent of the originally estimated project cost. To be eligible, the projects must be finished by next year.

A Focus on Energy spokesperson said the RFP will lead to more work being done on a greater number of energy-efficiency projects. The goal is to generate savings for customer in 2018 by offering an incentive that would most likely be greater than the incentive now allowed under the current Large Energy Users program.

Last year, Focus on Energy awarded an incentive or grant to 13 projects through the large therm project accelerator RFP.

This year, final proposals are due on Sept. 15. Anyone who wants to submit a draft proposal should do so by Aug. 16. Qualifying projects are required to be completed by Dec. 5, 2018.