National Grid yesterday announced plans to provide natural gas customers with energy-efficiency incentives similar to those it already offers to electric customers.
The proposal – filed with the R.I. Public Utilities Commission, and subject to its approval – outlines an array of programs and provides funding sources for energy efficiency programs and products for residential, commercial and industrial customers.
It was filed in accordance with a comprehensive energy law passed earlier this year by the R.I. General Assembly.
“As has been proven on the electric side of our business, the savings customers could realize are significant,” said Michael F. Ryan, National Grid’s president of Rhode Island Distribution. “The program complements the electric conservation programs that provide opportunities for customers to save money, manage their energy costs and increase the comfort, health and safety of their homes and businesses.”
Improving the efficiency of natural gas use would directly benefit gas customers, through cost savings and lower green house gas emissions, the company noted, and could also benefit electric customers, by reducing demand for natural gas which is also used to generate electricity.
To residential customers, National Grid plans to offer ENERGY STAR programs, providing rebates on programmable thermostats and replacement windows; energy-efficiency advice on new home construction; and a chance to participate in the company’s EnergyWise program, which assesses a customer’s energy use and recommends ways to improve a home’s energy efficiency.
Some low-income customers would qualify for free weatherization services, Natural Grid said, under the same model the company uses for electric efficiency programs. People eligible for fuel assistance who live in a one- to four-unit building may qualify for an energy audit, attic insulation, wall insulation and air sealing, at no cost to them. And, when an energy audit finds problems with the home heating system, they may qualify to have the system repaired or replaced for free.
National Grid said its plan also would extend to multifamily and commercial and industrial customers, offering programs such as energy audits, engineering services and high-efficiency heating solutions.
Similar electric energy efficiency programs implemented by the company between 1998 and 2005 will, over the life of their installations, save Rhode Island electric customers $317 million, Natural Grid said. Anticipated savings to natural gas customers will be provided in a second PUC filing in the first quarter of 2007.
To fund the program, the company proposes a customer surcharge that, for a residential heating customers using 1,036 therms per year, would increase the monthly bill by about 54 cents or 0.4 percent. The surcharge, if approved, would take effect on Jan. 1 and would add $2.3 million a year to an existing $500,000 program.
National Grid, a division of the U.K.-based National Grid Plc, transmits and distributes electricity and natural gas to nearly 4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. Its acquisition of New England Gas Co.’s Rhode Island business was completed at the end of August.
