Automatic Customer Verification for Energy Efficiency Rebate Programs

The Challenge

Hoosier Energy, a generation and transmission cooperative serving 18-member electric cooperatives in Indiana and Illinois, provides power for 686,000 people. They also provide an online marketplace through AM Conservation Group (AMCG), which offers utility customers discounted energy efficiency, water conservation, and weatherization products. Think lightbulbs, smart thermostats, weatherstripping, efficient shower heads, etc.

As a coop that serves various communities in two states, Hoosier Energy needed a way to verify that customers purchasing energy efficiency products from AMCG were valid customers—that is, people who live within one of their cooperatives. Without ensuring that customers fall under their jurisdiction, Hoosier Energy wouldn’t be able to properly claim savings or be eligible for allocated incentives. They needed a tool.

The Solution

The Launch Energy team banded together with AMCG to develop a verification tool and, more importantly, secure the one-two punch of savings and incentives for Hoosier Energy.

Once we dug deep into Hoosier’s needs, stakeholders, and desired outcomes, we discerned that the right solution was the simplest solution: the API tool from our flagship Energy Efficiency Collaboration Platform (EECP). By installing this tool, Hoosier Energy could:

Even better: The API tool needed zero tailoring or re-tooling. It suited the needs of Hoosier Energy and AMCG exactly—after the implementation and training period, the clients were essentially able to “plug and play.”

• Validate that an AM Conservation customer was a valid residential customer for Hoosier Energy and therefore eligible for the rebate program
• Absorb and track all purchases made by utility customers
• Accurately track savings, as well as incentives that need to be repaid to AMCG during year-end reconciliation

The outcome: greener homes across the cooperative, fewer errors in the data, and more incentives delivered to customers. For both energy efficiency and operational efficiency, Launch’s API proved to be a significant step forward.