Thursday, June 26, 2025 Blog · News

Energy burden pt. 2: How are utilities involved?

by Kennedy Bennett

Three-part blog series by Spring 2025 Energy & Climate Intern Ava Ambroggio 

 

Recognizing the disproportionate energy burden that low-income communities experience, utilities offer programs to address inefficient energy consumption. 

Their programs often feature “direct install” measures, which are energy efficiency upgrades that the utility or its contractors install for free. The alternative is a loan or rebate program that requires cost sharing or upfront investment by participants.   

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) acknowledges exemplary weatherization and energy efficiency programs each year. These programs are commended for their comprehensive approach, which are cost-effective, customer-friendly, and offer meaningful energy savings. In 2024, ACEEE awarded Illinois’ Home Energy Savings (HES) the “Leader of the Pack” for its efficiency gains across low-income households. This program serves as a benchmark to compare energy efficiency programs by South Carolina’s investor-owned utilities: Duke Energy’s Neighborhood Energy Saver Program and Dominion Energy’s Neighborhood Energy Efficiency Program. 

 

 

Illinois’ Home Energy Savings (HES) program, administered by several major utilities, stands out as a leading example of effective energy assistance for low-income communities.  

Launched in 2022, HES quickly became a frontrunner. It offers services tailored to both single-family and multi-family homes. These services include direct-installs and rebates for air sealing, insulation, and duct sealing. A key element of HES is its personalized approach: income-eligible participants are paired with an energy advisor who conducts a home energy assessment and provides free energy-saving products, such as smart thermostats, advanced power strips, and LED light bulbs. For deeper weatherization and HVAC upgrades, participants may receive referrals for utility-funded retrofits or the Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program (IHWAP). A notable strength of HES is its joint operation with electric and gas utilities; this integration simplifies the customer experience by providing energy efficiency services in one place. The program involves People’s Gas, North Shore Gas, Nicor Gas, ComEd, and Resource Innovations. 

During its inaugural year, HES worked with 9,653 customers and saved 10.2 million kWh. In 2023, HES achieved an annual savings of 10.6 million kWh and 1.5 million therms of gas, which prevented 33.7 million pounds of carbon emissions. The program assisted 9,400 customers, and its weatherization partnership with IHWAP served an additional 400 customers. The following year, HES helped 11,500 customers with 10.3 million kWh in energy savings.  

 

Duke Energy’s Neighborhood Energy Saver (NES) launched in 2013 and aims to serve at least 7,500 households each year. 

NES uses census tracts and other data to identify areas where many residents are at 200 percent or below the federal poverty level. Both homeowners and renters are included. Once a qualified neighborhood is identified, NES staff canvass door-to-door, notify eligible customers by mail, and invite them to a neighborhood event. At these events, attendees can speak with Energy Specialists and learn more about the program (and a complimentary dinner to encourage event attendance). Energy Specialists follow-up with eligible customers after the event and provide home energy assessments to educate customers on how their home uses energy. Participants can also receive free energy-saving products, such as energy-efficient lightbulbs, water-saving shower heads and faucet aerators, HVAC filters, water heater wraps, and smart power strips. 

NES reported 4,812 participants and 1.5 million kWh saved in 2022. This expanded to 9,372 participants and 1.7 million kWh saved in 2023, and further grew to 12,000 participants with 2 million kWh saved in 2024. (It is important to acknowledge that Duke Energy’s service territory extends into North Carolina, and data reported for NES may include participants and savings from that state, potentially inflating the figures attributed to South Carolina.) 

 

Dominion Energy’s Neighborhood Energy Efficiency Program (NEEP) also launched in 2013 to support income-qualified customers with energy efficiency. 

Dominion’s NEEP operates similarly to Duke’s NES. Dominion identifies a low-income neighborhood where at least half of households have incomes at or below 200% the federal poverty guideline. Then, the utility creates a customer list and map of single-family, mutli-family, and mobile homes. Third-party contractor Honeywell canvasses the entire neighborhood and notifies them of a kickoff event. All customers in the identified neighborhood can enroll in NEEP during the event. Then, Energy Specialists conduct an in-home energy assessment and install efficiency measures. The energy-efficient measures offered by NEEP are LED light bulbs, HVAC filters (1 year supply), weather stripping doors and windows, door sweeps, electric water heater wrap, pipe insulation, kitchen and bathroom faucet aerators, low-flow showerheads, smart power strips, digital wall plate thermometer, and shower timers. 

The program engaged 6,120 participants and achieved 5.2 million kWh in savings in 2022. This grew to 6,992 participants and 7.4 million kWh saved in 2023, and further increased to 7,233 participants with 8.7 million kWh saved in 2024. 

 

Energy burden pt. 1: What is it?

Energy burden pt. 3: Where do we go from here?

 

Sources 

  1. Confluence. (n.d.-a). https://guidehouse-external.atlassian.net/wiki/external/ZmNiMTM0MGYyMDdiNDY2MzhkOWIxYjZkZDUxM2E3Mjc
  2. Confluence. (n.d.-b). https://guidehouse-external.atlassian.net/wiki/external/ZmNiMTM0MGYyMDdiNDY2MzhkOWIxYjZkZDUxM2E3Mjc
  3. Duke Energy. (n.d.). Energy efficiency and renewable energy in Low-Income communities. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-06/documents/duke_energy_profile_508.pdf
  4. Duke Energy expands assistance programs for customers in need. (2025, February 14). https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/duke-energy-expands-assistance-programs-for-customers-in-need)
  5. Leaders of the Pack 2024 – Low-Income. (n.d.). ACEEE. https://www.aceee.org/leaders-pack-2024-low-income 

 

 


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