Mountain Association for Community Economic Development - How$martKY On-Bill Financing Energy Efficiency Program

Summary

Four rural utility cooperatives in Eastern Kentucky (Big Sandy RECC, Fleming-Mason RECC, Grayson RECC, and Jackson Energy) work with MACED to provide energy retrofits as part of utility service under the KY Energy Retrofit Rider. The program, How$martKY, addresses a barrier that households and small businesses face when making an up-front investment in energy efficiency improvements such as insulation, air-sealing and HVAC upgrades.

Rather than paying for energy conservation measures up-frot, How$martKY allows customers to make installment payments as part of their monthly utility bills, gradually paying for the efficiency upgrades by using part of the energy savings generated by the retrofit. Customers are expected to see savings on utility bills. Charges remain with the property and not the customer to accommodate all classes of utility customers.

After completing an energy assessment of the property and estimating the potential savings, the utility will oversee contractor installation of energy efficiency upgrades and provide assurance that the improvements have been correctly installed.