In the ever-evolving energy landscape, continuous improvement is key to achieving an efficient and resilient future. The TRC Energy Talks Podcast recently hosted a discussion with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) and Consumers Energy, exploring the critical role of program evaluation in driving energy efficiency and market transformation.
In this episode, our panel of industry experts discuss why performance measurement matters and how evaluations improve programs. We explore the regional perspectives, regulatory environments, evaluation requirements and program drivers that inform our work. Tune in to hear about the critical role of evaluation in accelerating market transformation and ensuring that demand side programs deliver real benefits and cost savings to consumers.
Speakers:
- Dr. Meghan Bean, Principal Market Research & Evaluation Scientist, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)
- Matt Rife, C.E.M., Senior Analyst, Product Research & Evaluation, Consumers Energy
- Angel Moreno, Director, Advanced Energy, TRC
“Program evaluation is the process of measuring and assessing the performance of demand side energy efficiency and load management programs, with the goal of continuous improvement. It’s how our industry maintains transparency and identifies unbiased insights for supporting the market at large.” – Angel Moreno, Director, Advanced Energy, TRC
Insights and Recommendations for Demand Side Management Programs
The electric utility industry is undergoing a transformative shift, driven by the need for energy efficiency, resiliency and affordability. To navigate these changes, utilities, agencies and organizations are embracing program evaluation strategies to drive continuous improvement and foster industry-wide collaboration. TRC’s podcast discussion with experts from NEEA and Consumers Energy identified insights on how program evaluation is creating lasting benefits within our industry. Recommendations include:
1. Leverage Research and Evaluation for Continuous Improvement
Program evaluation is essential for identifying opportunities to improve program design, delivery, and outcomes. By conducting regular evaluations, utilities and organizations can assess customer satisfaction, market barriers, and program performance. TRC recommends adopting adaptive evaluation frameworks that provide real-time insights, enabling utilities and organizations to make mid-cycle adjustments and respond to changing market conditions.
2. Embrace Market Transformation to Drive Long-Term Change
Market transformation programs focus on influencing upstream and midstream market actors, such as manufacturers, distributors and retailers, to adopt energy-efficient products and practices. By addressing barriers to adoption and creating permanent changes in the market, utilities and organizations can ensure that energy efficiency improvements are sustainable. These programs complement traditional resource acquisition efforts, creating a synergistic approach to achieving energy savings.
3. Highlight Non-Energy Benefits to Enhance Program Appeal
Energy efficiency programs often deliver benefits beyond energy savings, such as improved comfort, reduced waste, and enhanced productivity. When utilities and organizations choose to communicate these non-energy benefits to customers and market actors, they often resonate more strongly than energy savings alone. For example, agricultural customers may value reduced spoilage, while commercial customers may prioritize improved lighting quality.
4. Streamline Program Processes to Reduce Barriers
Complex program applications and administrative requirements can deter participation. We recommend utilities and organizations regularly review and simplify program processes to reduce burdens on customers and contractors. TRC’s evaluations have shown that streamlining applications can significantly improve program participation and satisfaction while reducing administrative costs.
5. Foster Collaboration Across Utilities and Regions
Collaboration is key to achieving large-scale impacts. Utilities and organizations become more effective when they work together to align program strategies, share resources, and influence national and regional markets. TRC and our industry partners have facilitated successful collaborations, such as shared cost studies and joint initiatives, that have amplified the effectiveness of energy efficiency programs.
6. Prepare for Emerging Trends in Load Flexibility
End-use load flexibility is becoming increasingly important as utilities and organizations seek to manage peak demand and integrate renewable energy. By exploring programs and technologies such as smart thermostats, connected appliances and circuit-level controls, utilities and organizations can enable customers to shift energy use to off-peak hours. Load flexibility pilots can help understand customer preferences and optimize program design.
7. Invest in Whole-Building Solutions
Energy efficiency opportunities extend beyond individual technologies to whole-building solutions. Consider programs that address building envelopes, insulation and integrated systems to maximize efficiency gains. TRC’s research with our industry partners shows whole-building approaches can deliver significant savings while improving occupant comfort and satisfaction.
8. Use Data and Analytics to Drive Decision-Making
By leveraging advanced data analytics, utilities and organizations gain insights into customer behavior, market trends, and program performance. TRC’s evaluation work, with our industry partners, has demonstrated the value of using data to identify high-impact opportunities, optimize program delivery, and track progress toward goals.
9. Communicate the Value of Programs to Build Trust
Transparency and clear communication are essential for building trust with customers, regulators and market actors. By sharing program results, including successes and challenges, utilities and organizations demonstrate accountability and commitment to continuous improvement. Outreach methods such as public reports and stakeholder engagement can effectively highlight program impacts and value.
10. Establish Strong Partnerships with Market Actors
Contractors, installers, manufacturers and other market actors play a critical role in program delivery and customer engagement. Building partnerships with these entities is essential for overcoming barriers to adoption, ensuring proper installation of energy-efficient technologies and driving market transformation. By providing training, resources and incentives, and by ensuring continuous improvement through program evaluation, utilities and organizations can empower contractors to become advocates. These strong partnerships create a ripple effect, amplifying the impact of demand management programs across the supply chain.
Looking Ahead
Program evaluation is a powerful resource for driving continuous improvement and innovation in the energy sector. By leveraging data and research, addressing market barriers and fostering collaboration, organizations and utilities like NEEA and Consumers Energy, with support from TRC, are paving the way for a more efficient, resilient, and affordable energy future.
Embrace The Shift
Partner With TRC’s Tested Practitioners
Sharing Our Perspectives
Our practitioners share their insights and perspectives on the trends and challenges shaping the market.
Plan, Do, Check, Act: The Importance of Program Evaluation for Energy Efficiency Programs
July 14, 2025
We’re excited to share Episode 8 of TRC’s Energy Talks Podcast, where we’re joined by experts from NEEA and Consumers Energy to explore the vital role of program evaluation in advancing energy efficiency and market transformation.
TRC Earns U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Qualification to be a Provider of Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) Equivalent Energy Assessments
September 24, 2024
TRC can now provide IAC equivalent energy audits to small and medium-sized manufacturing (SMM) firms, who can receive grants of up to $300,000 for implementation of audit recommendations.
Utility Carbon Data Management
May 27, 2024
We’re pleased to announce Episode 7 of TRC’s Energy Talks Podcast, where we join experts from utilities and carbon accounting solution providers to discuss how our industry is understanding, measuring, and working to improve our collective carbon footprint.
Empowering Stakeholders to Co-Create Solutions that Address Inequity
April 23, 2024
Addressing inequality and ensuring that the benefits of the clean energy transition are accessible to all requires close examination of long-relied-upon processes that may have hidden inequities ingrained within them.
Monetizing the Environmental Attributes of Building Decarbonization Programs
March 27, 2024
Tune in to Episode 6 of TRC’s Energy Talks Podcast, where we join industry experts from the wholesale energy and environmental commodity markets to discuss how utilities and project developers are valuing the environmental attributes of building decarbonization projects.
Hydrogen Hub Funding Provisions
March 26, 2024
TRC’s panel of practitioners discuss the Hydrogen Hub (H2Hub) funding provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIL).
TRC Companies, Inc. selected to participate in Department of Energy (DOE) Multi-State Clean Hydrogen Hub
October 13, 2023
TRC received an award for advancing the transition to a clean-hydrogen, low-carbon economy by supporting the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) consortium.
Download Whitepaper: 10 Years of Insights for Clean Community Microgrids
March 1, 2023
Clean, community microgrids represent a promising and timely opportunity for you to advance your customer offering and deliver meaningful societal benefits, all while modernizing your grid and providing you with load flexibility.
Start Your Batteries: Mass Fleet Electrification is Coming (And What We Can do to Prepare)
April 13, 2022
As we plan for and make early investments for fleets, we’ll be paving the way for higher degrees of market penetration of passenger vehicles and other modes of transportation as well.
Ensuring a Just Transition: Optimizing Opportunities for All in the Low-Carbon Future
January 24, 2022
Carbon elimination of the magnitude needed to address climate change requires systems-level change that can only be reached by incremental, ground-up progress, building upon what we have achieved thus far.
Decarbonization: A Systems-Level Challenge and Actions to Address Climate Change
December 7, 2021
Carbon elimination of the magnitude needed to address climate change requires systems-level change that can only be reached by incremental, ground-up progress, building upon what we have achieved thus far.
10 Takeaways from the COP26 Climate Meeting
November 17, 2021
There are compelling reasons to be optimistic about the outcomes of the COP26 meeting. Notably, agreement among all nations that more needs to be done, by both private and governmental bodies, to contain and mitigate climate change.
The Price of Natural Gas: Onward and Upward or Just a Temporary Blip?
November 12, 2021
Most industry experts agree that weather aside, the global energy and gas markets are likely to remain uncertain with supply and market demand becoming tighter and more challenging to forecast.
On the Road to Decarbonization: The Role of All-Source Competitive Solicitations
October 14, 2021
All-Source Competitive Solicitations offer utilities an alternative to centralized planning, construction and dispatch of power supplies, helping to usher in a new era of market-driven technology innovation.
Pacific Gas and Electric Selects TRC as Program Implementer for New Construction Residential All-Electric and Mixed Fuel Programs
September 27, 2021
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) formally announced TRC as the designated lead Program Implementer for the Statewide New Construction (SWNC) Residential All-Electric and Mixed Fuel Programs following a competitive solicitation process.
TRC and Slipstream partner with the Minnesota Department of Commerce to launch energy conservation R&D project
June 24, 2021
TRC, Slipstream, and the University of Minnesota are working with controls system manufacturers and contractors to develop such a standardized and streamlined building control retrofit process leveraging ASHRAE Guideline 36
TRC Companies Inc. Acquires EMI Consulting
January 27, 2021
Today TRC Companies (“TRC”), announces the expansion of its advanced energy capabilities with the acquisition of EMI Consulting (“EMI”), a Seattle based firm that consults on the strategic development of clean energy solutions including energy efficiency, demand management, decarbonization and customer engagement.
City of Camarillo, California approves moving forward with Hybrid Solar Microgrids at five critical community facilities
November 6, 2020
On October 28, the Camarillo City Council unanimously approved moving forward with the design of Hybrid Microgrids at five City facilities: City Hall, the Corporation Yard, Camarillo Public Library, Police Station, and Wastewater Treatment Plant. The microgrid at the Camarillo Public Library will be designed with solar+storage only, while the other four sites will employ a hybrid design of solar+storage+diesel.
TRC Digital partners with Dominion Energy to evolve its distributed energy resource strategy
September 22, 2020
Dominion Energy, one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, has partnered with TRC Digital to evaluate, implement and integrate technology to further the utility’s distributed energy goals. TRC Digital will facilitate Dominion Energy’s strategy development and technology execution, allowing Dominion Energy and its customers to accelerate the shift to distributed energy resources (DER) and net carbon reduction.
Strategic Electrification
February 4, 2020
As we look to spur strategic electrification across the US, it will be up energy providers and solution implementers to continue sharing ideas, insights and lessons learned
A place called home: Helping California families rebuild after wildfires
November 21, 2019
A place called home: Helping California families rebuild after wildfires
TRC and partners win $1 million grant for engineering innovative New York microgrid
April 20, 2017
TRC is proud to support Huntington, NY bolster power reliability and climate-change resiliency with a sophisticated new “community microgrid’’ combining solar energy, a fuel cell, biogas and traditional natural gas to deliver electricity and heat to local customers and institutions.