Power Factor

Episode 5 - Cut Costs with Energy Efficiency Incentives

• Midstate Electric Cooperative

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Episode 5 - Cut Costs with Energy Efficiency Incentives

Hosted by Jim Anderson, General Manager and CEO of Midstate Electric Cooperative

In this episode of Power Factor, we’re joined by our Energy Efficiency Department to break down the real patterns behind high bill surprises and show how SmartHub data, practical improvements, and conservation incentives can make a difference. From hidden heating spikes and duct leaks to upgrades like insulation, ductless heat pumps, variable-speed systems, and heat pump water heaters, our team explains what truly pays off—and why calling us first matters for window incentives and other pre-measure requirements. Tune in to Power Factor to take control of your bill, boost comfort, and make smarter energy decisions with guidance from the experts who know your co-op best. 

Jim Anderson:

Welcome to Power Factor, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes at Midstate Electric Cooperative. I'm Jim Anderson, the CEO and General Manager, and I'm going to be your host as we dive into topics about our industry and the challenges we face and the members that we proudly serve. In today's episode, we're discussing energy efficiency and incentives that are available through Midstate. Joining us from our energy efficiency team, we have Britni and Jen. Welcome.

Britni:

Thank you for having us.

Jim Anderson:

You guys are going to help us walk through our rebates, our incentives, our high bills, and how members can save energy and money.

Jen:

Perfect.

Jim Anderson:

Sounds like you guys have a lot to talk about.

Britni:

We love saving energy.

Jim Anderson:

So I guess right off the bat before we even get going, you know, it's really kind of intriguing that Midstate Electric sells power. But on the other side, Midstate Electric encourages our members to save money and not use power.

Jen:

It's crazy!

Jim Anderson:

Well, you know, we just had a podcast on rates, how rates are set, and we have a rate increase coming up. With that, there's going to be some things that are going to happen. People are going to probably see some bills that are going up, high bills, possibly some usage that looks maybe bigger or not to them. So when a member calls in about high bill, what is the first step that your team takes in talking to them or helping them out?

Jen:

Well, for a high-bill call to get to us, it's already gone through member services. It's really pretty rare that we do get a high-bill call. When we do get that call, obviously we're going to encourage the use of Smart Hub, which member services is going to as well. While Smart Hub doesn't allow you to see your current use as you're using it, you can look back and reflect on your previous day usage. So that's where we start. From there, we'll go into the specifics of the home. What year was it built? Is it a manufactured home? Is it a stick-built home? What are you heating with? How's your hot water heater functioning? Is it functioning as it should? Is it showing signs of failure? Insulation level, that kind of thing. We talk through everything, get a good understanding of what they're working with, and then we can make suggestions for improvement.

Jim Anderson:

So you mentioned Smart Hub, so that's probably one of the tools that you guys have to show the members where their usage is coming from. So what exactly is that and how does it work?

Jen:

Well, it's an application that we have. It's available on our website and as an app on your phone. And you can log in and you can see in there, it breaks down your previous usage, so you can see in there down to the 30-minute increment of where power was being consumed. So for instance, if you think you're not using a lot of power and what you're not realizing is heat's kicking on, it's cycling, you have your house set to a certain temperature overnight, that heat's going to cycle to maintain that temperature while you're sleeping. So you will see spikes throughout the evening to maintain that temperature.

Jim Anderson:

So with the heater kicking on, so are there times more calls come in about high bill complaints or what is the norm, or I guess close to it, on when that takes place?

Britni:

Anytime that we have extreme changes in weather, whether it be we get hot for summer or we get cold for winter, sometimes people forget that if it's 30 degrees outside, and even though their thermostat is only set at 65 in their house and they're cold, their system is still working to heat that 35 degrees. And it could be running all day long. Same as air conditioning, you know, when it gets warm here and you have your air on and you don't realize that it's not cooling off at night, and maybe it is only getting down to 75 degrees, your system is still running all night. That's a constant, and that's going to unfortunately, you know, give you that bump on your bill.

Jen:

Also, I'll add to that coming into the winter season, obviously, we have holidays coming. A lot of people don't factor in the fact that they have family members coming to visit. You have more bodies in the house, more people taking showers, your lights are on, you're cooking your turkey, you're doing all the things that really you kind of forget adds cost to your energy bill.

Jim Anderson:

So there's a lot of factors that play into the bill that you guys can help the members with. So can you give me an example of how you've helped a member save money or identify a problem?

Jen:

Yeah, I have a good one. I actually, this was a renter, and he was calling because he didn't understand the heating bills were just outrageous. So I talked him through, we're doing the kind of the basic call on the phone, troubleshooting different things. And one of the things I asked him to check was the insulation in the crawl space. So he went to the access, he lifted it off. This was probably like February of last year, and he said, Should it be warm down here? I said, Absolutely not. To me, that indicates that there's a leak in your ducting. So the money he's paying to heat his home, a lot of that heat was being spent going to heat the crawl space where you don't need to keep the critters warm.

Jim Anderson:

Uh no, that's a very good example. So I guess that kind of is a good segue into something, I guess the old terminology was energy audits. So we've changed that terminology a little bit. What exactly is an audit and what can a member expect?

Britni:

Audits have kind of evolved over the years now that we have the AMI meters. Prior to AMI, we had the cyclometer meters where you would go out and actually just shut things off one at a time and watch the dial slow down. Now with the AMI meters, the meters are coming in accurate. So really it's the question of you know, what have you changed in your house over the last 30 days? Pulling up their Smart Hub and ideally with the members on the phone looking at it at the same time as them and say, okay, something happened last Saturday. What was happening at your house? And then really kind of trying to get them to drill down to think about what was taking place when the bill went up. So an energy consult now, it could be a couple things. It could be, hey, I'm in the market for a new furnace. Should I go a furnace, or should I go a ductless heat pump? You know, what are recommendations? What are your incentives? It's more kind of focusing on the measure. But certainly if you have someone, lots of calls can come in, like, I just bought a new house. I don't know anything about it. What, you know, where should I start? You know, that would be a good time to, you know, to get in touch and kind of go through the checklist of maybe what could be improved or what's good.

Jim Anderson:

So it sounds like we can walk them through, but we can actually do a home visit too.

Britni:

Absolutely.

Jim Anderson:

So when you're doing these audits, what are them probably the most common theme that you run into? What do you see the most of?

Jen:

I would say the common issue is insulation. It's the one thing you can't see. You can't see your insulation. Most people aren't going around chucking into their attic or looking into their crawlspace. So to me, that's the most overlooked energy efficiency thing. If you think about it, it's the old commercial of the dollar bills flying out the windows. If you're not insulated, you're not maintaining your heat. It's just flying out. It's also one of the least cost energy efficiency upgrades that you can make to a home, and it gives you probably the biggest incentive back because of the low cost. It's a huge I can't stress it enough. A lot of people think windows, well, windows are pretty to look at, but on the scale of energy efficiency, it's the lowest rating and they're extremely expensive.

Britni:

Insulating your home can improve the comfortability tremendously. Where you used to get up and walk on a cold floor, it's gonna be warm. It's a huge change.

Jim Anderson:

Oh, that's very good to know. So you guys mentioned heat pumps and other things earlier. So it kind of brings us into rebates and incentives. Right now, Midstate does work with Bonneville Power Administration for incentives and rebates. So what kind of programs are available?

Jen:

Well, effective October 1st, all incentives are changing. So we have incentives on washer dryers, we have the smart thermostat, duct ceiling, as I mentioned, windows, doors, insulation, and then the heat pumps. So heat pumps, if you convert like cadet or baseboard heat, which are horrible energy consumers, you can get $920 back if you convert those to a ductless heat pump. If you convert a force air furnace to an air source, you get twelve hundred and fifty dollars. A force air furnace to a variable speed, $1560, $1,560. Or if you have an older heat pump that you convert to a variable speed, you can get $600. Also, to note, heat pump water heaters, that's the newest kind of technology out there that we're incentivizing. So if you replace an existing electric-resistant hot water heater with a heat pump water heater, you can get some big money back. $1,400 would be your incentive on a 40-gallon and then a 50-gallon, depending which tier, you can either get $1,600 or $1,800 back. And there's also incentives on a NEEM home, Northwest Energy Efficient Manufactured Home. So we have some great incentives.

Britni:

We also have incentives for commercial, industrial, and agriculture irrigation accounts for pivots, could be replacing lighting, could be improving the power factor of your equipment in your industrial building. We have lots of programs. Um basically, we just really want you to give us a call and tell us what you have going on, and then we can help steer you in the right direction.

Jim Anderson:

So if I'm a member of Midstate, but I don't own my home, I'm a renter. Do I still qualify for some of these programs?

Britni:

Yes. If your landlord decides that they are going to change the heating system and put in a ductless heat pump, yes, you can benefit from that because the owner would still be able to make the change to the home. The one incentive that we have that could be good for you would be a washer and dryer. If you want to, if you purchase your own washer and dryer, then we can incentivize on that for you and you would get to keep that money.

Jim Anderson:

As a member, how do I apply for the rebate? Is it complicated or is it fairly easy to do?

Jen:

It's really easy. You just do that right on our website. We have a link there to all the different incentives. It'll spell out the incentive amount. There's applications on there, it tells you what you need to send back to get the incentive.

Britni:

Encourage you to call our office and let us know what you're planning on doing so that we can make sure that you have all of the right specs. So when you do pick out the new unit that you'll be getting, that you can make sure that it is something that would qualify for an incentive. And we also encourage you to get at least three bids just to make sure that you're getting the most bang for your buck with the improvement that you're making to your home.

Jen:

And to note windows, that's a big one. We've mentioned it several times, but I still get calls for people that have replaced their windows and not called us ahead of time. We must come out. We have to measure those. We have to see the condition of the windows before you do the work. So if you're thinking of windows, call us so we can get out there and take care of that. And because if you call us after the fact, we're kind of stuck.

Britni:

If you're using baseboard heating or cadet heaters, a ductless heat pump, you would see a significant savings on a ductless. So that would be something to consider. And the nice part about a ductless is you don't have to have any existing infrastructure under your house to make it work, and you get heat and air conditioning.

Jen:

So it's really great when we have smoky days.

Britni:

Yes.

Jen:

But it is really cool too when you can partner up incentives. So if you do upgrade a forced air furnace to a heat pump, do the duct ceiling because over time ducts, you know, they start to, I think five, six years, they start to kind of fall apart, and you don't realize you're not typically crawling around under your house. So do those things together, partner up and get, you know, get more incentive money back. It's just a better system.

Jim Anderson:

So how does your department, how do you guys keep up with all the changes in technology with the appliances and the efficiency standards? How do you guys keep up on that?

Britni:

Well, we are really lucky being part of Bonneville Power Administration and being customers of theirs, they set the standards for all of our energy efficiency rebates and programs. And what's interesting about that is they're not setting them themselves. The Northwest Conservation Council is actually setting the incentive programs for the whole Pacific Northwest so that everybody is making a concerted effort to try to save energy, as we talked about earlier in the broadcast. Even though we sell power, we want to be good stewards of how it is used. And if there's an opportunity to save it and use it in a more fruitful way, then that's what we try to do. And that's what Bonneville is helping us out with with our programs.

Jim Anderson:

And with that, do you guys keep a list of contractors that qualify for these rebates or programs? Do we have something here that the members need to look back on to make sure that they're available?

Jen:

No, we used to once upon a time, we did keep a list of approved contractors, but really any contractor, as long as the end product meets the requirements, members can choose whom they want. We like we said, Britni said previously we recommend at least three bids. A good case in point. I have a member that got a bid for some window replacements in his home. He got a bid from a well-known place in Bend, over $60,000 for windows. He had another company come out and they came in at $38,000. With all the energy improvements they recommended, he could do windows, heat pump, and insulation for less than the one company quoted him for just the windows. So that's why it's imperative to get multiple bids. There's such a range.

Britni:

And Midstate is actually hosting an event for local contractors with comfort-ready homes to make sure that our local contractors are aware of incentives, are aware of the specifications for units being installed. And as an incentive to them to go through the program, they also would get a rebate for helping Midstate members.

Jim Anderson:

So it sounds like we're educating our memberships as we're going. We're also educating the contractors as they go forward. Are there other things, events, newsletters? Is it on our website? Is there any other way that we try to educate members as far as energy efficiency?

Jen:

I think we're always throwing out little tidbits on social media, how to save money. Definitely the newsletter we typically have a blurb. I think last month we ran something on the smart thermostats that we're offering. So we are always trying to keep members informed and keep that communication going.

Jim Anderson:

And now, as you guys have done this and been working with the membership, have there have members contacted back and have they been surprised at the energy they're saving? Have they seen a difference on the bill? Have they followed up with you guys on any of this stuff?

Jen:

I don't usually hear about it. I'm assuming no news is good news and they're happy.

Britni:

So in 2024, we did uh low-income ductless heat pump installs for 38 members. And what we heard back from that may not necessarily have been what they were seeing on the bottom line of their bill because perhaps they were using wood to heat and now they have an additional cost of the ductless heat pump. But what we heard was their comfortability had changed. And now they didn't have to just sit in front of the fireplace or go stoke it at night where they could actually just be comfortable in their home and also during the summer with the air conditioning. So I think the comfortability factor is big. When people do a lot of improvements to their home, we encourage them to go onto Smart Hub and mark an event so that they can track their usage prior to whatever measure that they did to change at their home versus what it was before so that they can track their usage and monitor their savings.

Jim Anderson:

Are you guys educating the younger members on how to save?

Britni:

You know, whenever we can. So getting into schools is tricky, you know. Um, but whenever we can, you know, everybody's got a phone. You know, there's the phantom charge when you've got your phone plugged in. I think talking to your kids about things that you see, I mean, you hope that it goes other places, but you know, it's not like the old days where your parents are following you around telling you to turn lights off, right? Because we know now that lights really aren't what caused your bill to go up. So not anymore. Not anymore.

Jen:

I think that's where the app comes in. A lot of kids are, you know, a lot of teenagers, they're tech savvy, they want the app, they like to see things on their phone. So having the app, I think, is a really a unique benefit for that age group.

Jim Anderson:

Are there any new programs or incentives? I know you brought up a couple that are on the horizon that we should know about or the members should pay attention to.

Britni:

For residential, everything kind of still seems, you know, par for the course. We're locked in for about three years, I think, at these current incentive rates effective just now. Just now. You know, commercial, industrial, and ag, if there's a program that we're not advertising on our website, it may not be because it doesn't exist. If we can find a savings for something that you're doing, we will work with the Bonneville Power Administration to figure out if there's a path to an incentive. You just need to reach out to us, and we'll walk through what it is that you're that you're trying to do, what upgrade you want to make, and let you know what, if any type of incentive would be available.

Jen:

Occasionally the state runs some great options too, some programs. They did one in June of this year where they offered $2,000 off of a heat pump installation with qualified contractors. So you had to go on their website, find a qualified contractor, get in on that. Sometimes there's waiting lists and the funding does run out really quickly. But that was one I did see this past year.

Jim Anderson:

So with everything going on, and I know we're really involved in this, and you guys are very involved in the projects and the different programs we have. How do you measure success?

Jen:

I think we measure it in we just, you know, if we hear back from a member or try to help save them money, I think they're very appreciative. And then, two, kind of utilizing that budget that we are given from Bonneville, we want to make sure that money goes to help the members and if we can promote those programs, save some money.

Britni:

And I think success also comes just in educating folks. You know, if you get a new hot tub, that could be $30 to $40 a month on your bill. Did you know that a space heater, if you're running it eight hours a day, that's gonna be $30 plus. Per space heater. Per space heater. So I think it's just providing education to just real life scenarios, just to have a couple fun facts just to rattle off that that you people don't realize, you know, what it's costing to keep your greenhouse warm or to keep your shop warm, especially when you're not out there. So, you know, just bringing those things to the forefront to let you know that there are some things that you can do to control your bill. There's a lot of things that we can't control when your hot water heater comes on, when your heat kicks on. But if you can manage the things that you can manage, then there will likely be a savings.

Jim Anderson:

In the future, as we look forward, I know we're seeing a lot more EVs, we're seeing solar, we're seeing battery storage. What role does energy efficiency play in that?

Britni:

So Midstate Electric does have residential solar and small generation with commercial and industrial businesses. So our role right now is to essentially buy the excess generation power from the member. Going forward with EVs, we are just now kind of getting into charging and figuring out how all of that works. We did do a pilot for residential electric vehicle chargers so that we're able to learn about our members' habits about when they're using them, how much are they charging, uh, what time of day are they charging, battery storage, that's a new one. Those are all things that we're kind of learning as we go. We have members, a lot of times members will call us and tell us what they're doing and what they've learned, and you know, they're passing it along to us. So we really appreciate that. But, you know, we know that this is the future. And as the trusted energy expert of Midstate, like we want to be there for you. So if you have questions about any of those things, we would highly encourage you to give us a call.

Jen:

One of my favorite things is the call for the person from the member that's considering purchasing an EV. I have one, I know how to run my app, my software, how to adjust charge rates. So I can talk them through and give them real life examples of how to charge affordably, how much I've saved in gas, you know, in comparison to gas for the time I've had the car. So that's one of my favorite calls to get.

Jim Anderson:

In-house experts. So, in closing, question for each of you, if you would. If you could give one piece of advice about managing energy usage, what would it be?

Britni:

I would say be aware of what's going on at your home. Know the top users. Number one is your heating system, number two is your hot water heater. What are the extras that you're adding? Those are two things that you may not be able to manage, you know, on the hourly. But what are those things that you can manage? You know, we offer a time of use rate. Are you somebody that works all day and you're not home? So you're washing your clothes late at night when it makes sense and power's cheaper. Maybe that's something that you would be interested in. Or are you somebody that doesn't want to be hassled with it? But do you know that washing your clothes on cold can save you up to $120 a month versus washing 26 loads on hot? You know, there's just some things that you that you can do that everything may not be right for you, but just small adjustments I think can help with overall savings.

Jen:

And I would say after being in this role and learning what I have, look at your insulation. I can't stress that enough. I keep coming back and hammering this because people just don't look what's you know, what's in the attic. They don't look at the crawl. And it's such a huge waste of energy just to see that money going out the window. Um, I would also recommend Smart Hub if you have any questions on where you're using energy. Look at your use yesterday. What happened yesterday? You know, people that's one of maybe my most frustrating calls is well, where am I using energy? Well, with the old meters, we could tell pretty easily, like Britni walked through. The new smart meters, they don't work that way. So it's really hard for me to be a detective in what's running in your home. So, you know, you gotta help us out and know what's going on in your home.

Jim Anderson:

Thank you. So is there anything we missed that we didn't cover that we needed to get to, or did we cover everything?

Britni:

You know, the programs that we have are for you. They're for our members, and we get a budget from Bonneville and it's our goal to spend it. I mean, we want our members to have the tools to number one be comfortable and number two have the ability to control how much energy is being used in their house. So if you're on the fence or you're not sure about a program, please just give us a call and we will help you, we will walk you through it. This is just a really great program, and there really is something for everybody.

Jen:

So it's definitely worth the conversation. Yes. And maybe with budget permitting, maybe we can bring back some programs to help our low-income people that really struggle. Yep.

Jim Anderson:

So this money that Bonneville gets out is outside of Midstate budget. So this is actually budgeted dollars for rebate that Bonneville has set aside for the co-ops.

Britni:

Correct. This doesn't come from our budget, this is from Bonneville. This is a portion of what Midstate pays to Bonneville for power that comes back to us for energy conservation. So it's money that our members have paid, Midstate has paid through our power bill through them that comes back to us to try to make our communities more energy efficient. And as we mentioned earlier, you know, being good stewards of the resources that we have available to us for power.

Jim Anderson:

And that's really good information that we need to know that the members can get some of the money back with these rebates.

Jen:

Absolutely.

Jim Anderson:

Excellent. Well, thank you both for being here today and trying to enlighten us a little bit more on energy efficiency and rebates and what goes on in your department. And I would like to thank everybody for tuning in to this episode of Power Factor. Be sure to subscribe or follow us on your favorite podcast application to stay informed on the latest from Mid state Electric Cooperative. We appreciate you listening as always. Stay safe, stay informed, and stay empowered. Until next time, thank you.