NorthWestern Energy Program for Businesses Receives National Kudos

NorthWestern Energy’s Efficiency Plus (E+) Business Partners program http://www.northwesternenergy.com/eplus has been recognized by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a nonprofit research group based in Washington, D.C., as an "exemplary program." This recognition is part of a national awards program to honor America’s leading energy efficiency programs.

The E+ Business Partners provides custom incentives for energy efficiency to qualifying business, industrial, and irrigation customers. While the utility has offered the program for more than 20 years, it is the addition of two new approaches since 2006 that caught the attention of ACEEE. NorthWestern has contracts with five engineering and efficiency organizations to work with customers to complete cost-effective energy efficiency projects and pays the contractor based upon the energy savings of the projects they deliver. If the contractors, called E+ Program Contractors, do not deliver energy saving customer projects, they do not get paid by NorthWestern Energy. Separately, NorthWestern contracts for marketing and outreach support to exclusively encourage customer participation and to support the E+ Program Contractors.

Since 2006, E+ Business Partners has resulted in energy savings of more than 18,500,000 kWh of electricity, or enough to power more than 2,050 homes for a year. The natural gas program is a newer offering and not as many customers qualify for it. It has saved more than 55,260 therms of natural gas, enough natural gas to serve more than 46 homes for a year.

NorthWestern Energy received the award at a recognition program at ACEEE’s National Symposium on Market Transformation held in Washington, D.C.

"Since 2006, the addition of the E+ Program Contractors and the outreach contractors has made it easier for NorthWestern Energy’s customers to participate in the E+ Business Partners Program," said Bob Rowe, NorthWestern Energy’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "It’s a challenge to reach the commercial customers across our vast Montana service territory with energy-efficiency support and this combined approach with outreach and E+ Program Contractors has delivered strong results. We’re honored that ACEEE has recognized our successes in our rural markets where there can be many miles between customers."

In 2006, NorthWestern Energy entered into a performance-based contract with the Butte-based National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) in which NCAT is paid based upon the energy savings achieved from the customer projects. Based upon the successes with NCAT, other E+ Program Contractors have been added creating additional opportunities for customers to receive assistance in developing and completing comprehensive energy efficiency projects in new and existing commercial facilities. "NCAT and the other E+ Program contractors work with customers to develop the project application which includes a description of the current equipment and the proposed improvements, costs associated with the improvements and estimates of the energy savings. The application is reviewed for completeness and accuracy before an incentive for the customer can be calculated and approved by NorthWestern Energy."

"For many customers, compiling the information and calculating the energy savings associated with a comprehensive energy management project is daunting," said David Bausch, NorthWestern’s Senior DSM Engineer. "The E+ Program Contractors are familiar with the program application requirements and can often move a customer to lower energy costs through the E+ Business Partners Program. By paying the contractor an incentive based upon the energy savings, it has increased interest in energy efficiency projects as part of the E+ Program Contractors’ services."

Programs selected for this honor were judged to be especially noteworthy for their effectiveness and innovation in helping customers achieve greater levels of energy efficiency in their homes, businesses, and industries.

"These programs are delivering energy savings that are critical in helping customers reduce their energy costs, plus they make an important environmental contribution by reducing pollution from the use of fossil fuels," noted ACEEE Utilities Program director Dan York.

More Information about NorthWestern Energy’s Efficiency Plus (E+) programs is available at http://www.northwesternenergy.com/eplus.

About NorthWestern Energy

NorthWestern Energy provides electricity and natural gas in the Upper Midwest and Northwest, serving approximately 673,200 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.

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