We all benefit from an open conversation on the future of residential energy efficiency.
Right now, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is preparing the federal guidance necessary for state energy offices to begin administering financial incentives as part of the HOMES program.
The DOE issued a request for information (RFI) earlier this year and Sealed was proud to participate in that process.
We helped answer DOE questions through our submitted comments, with support from more than a dozen energy efficiency companies and organizations including Fifth Wall, SunRun, and Elephant Energy.
We all benefit from an open discussion on the future of residential energy efficiency in our country.
Within the next year, households across the country will be able to access nearly $9 billion in new federal home energy rebates for residential energy efficiency and electrification projects.
This includes more than $4 billion allocated to home energy-performanced based, whole-house rebates, otherwise known as the aptly named HOMES program.
This big pot of money for energy efficiency is a key component of the Inflation Reduction Act, the most comprehensive clean-energy legislation in American history, that was signed into law in August 2022.
Overall, this is excellent news for Americans, but now comes the challenging part:
What’s the best way to distribute that cash so that as many people as possible—especially low-income households who stand to gain the most from energy-saving home improvements—can take advantage of these new financial incentives?
The DOE’s questions touched on a number of significant matters when it comes to effectively and equitably distributing the billions of dollars in federal incentives coming online.
Sealed’s responses are a reflection of the core tenets we bring to our mission to stop home energy waste and electrify all homes: a market-friendly, performance-based approach to energy efficiency for all households, no matter their income.
In short, we shared with DOE our belief that the measured savings pathway of the HOMES program is the best approach for distributing these new federal rebates.
The measured pathway creates market accountability for incentivizing projects that generate real energy savings and reductions, and therefore lower household energy bills.
Much of our own thinking on measured savings, which we’ve shared online in recent months, factored into our responses—especially when it comes to energy data accessibility and incentive flexibility. That way, market aggregators can reach the maximum number of households with energy efficiency and electrification projects.
We encourage you to read our RFI response in its entirety—and we hope you’re as excited as we are to begin the journey to clean energy for all.
We also encourage others who have responded to the RFI to publish their comments as well. We all benefit from an open discussion on the future of residential energy efficiency in our country.
Sealed believes in a public conversation on this topic—these decisions are too important to only be discussed behind closed doors and at industry-specific conferences.
Sealed’s RFI is proudly supported by the following companies and organizations:
Explore the Sealed Measured Savings Incentives (MSI) series in full:
- Part 1: Aggregators: The hidden key to unlocking Measured Saving Incentives (MSI)
- Part 2: For the HOMES program to succeed, energy data must be accessible
- Part 3: Measuring Measured Savings
- Part 4: Incentive flexibility can unlock market innovation
- Part 5: The HOMES program can deliver simplicity for consumers and contractors