Also available: Residents & Business FAQs.
What are the program’s goals?
CEA’s goal is to reduce energy use in the City of Cambridge by an average of 10% and about 15% (50 MW) of peak use, within the next few years by promoting the adoption of energy efficiency technologies and behaviors. Our efforts are currently focused on reducing consumption of natural gas, heating oil, electricity and water. To achieve this, CEA seeks participation by a majority of participants in every sector: residents, businesses, institutions, and others.
How does CEA plan to achieve program goals?
CEA has identified lenders and ESCOs to assure the lowest rates, best terms, and most comprehensive services. CEA has assigned account managers to oversee the marketing and delivery of services to each market segment in the City. CEA also manages the relationships between Eversource, ESCOs, and participants.
It is necessary to involve as many segments of the community as possible. Although the commercial and industrial sector is the largest consumer of energy in Cambridge, and is expected to contribute the lion’s share of efficiency gains, residents must be involved as well. Consequently, CEA’s goal is to involve 50% of residential units and small businesses in our programs.
How will CEA provide quality assurance to participants?
Quality assurance is a key element of CEA’s program. We will closely monitor energy and water consumption data for all participants for water, gas and electricity before and after projects occur and provide regular updates on progress. Our independent engineers will inspect completed work of all large-scale projects and review a strong sample of small-scale projects. Where inspections or participant feedback reveals issues with the quality of workmanship or materials, CEA’s program managers and independent engineers will ensure that our partners’ work meets expectations, and address outstanding concerns.
How will the results be measured and reported?
The Cambridge Energy Alliance will be tracking pre and post-installation electric, gas and water data in two ways:
- We will be comparing the citywide consumption for these utilities on a monthly basis by customer class: small residential, small commercial and industrial, large residential, and large commercial and industrial.
- We will be tracking consumption of electricity, gas, heating oil, and water on a monthly basis for each participant participating in the program.
We will regularly report the results of the consumption trends by utility class and for each class of participant on the CEA website. We are currently investigating a cost-effective strategy for tracking and reporting heating oil savings.
What is the relationship between Eversource and CEA?
Eversource supports CEA’s efforts in several ways, including:
- Providing financial incentives for eligible electric and gas measures
- Coordinating on activities and policies of mutual interest
- Producing and distributing joint promotional materials
Can CEA help other towns start a similar program?
We are proud of our program, and pleased with the attention our efforts have garnered. Cambridge has a history of contributing to positive change, and CEA hopes to continue in this tradition. While we do not have a cookbook for baking your own CEA, we suggest that you read the materials from the the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) charrette planning session that helped inform the design of the Cambridge Energy Alliance. You might also find informative a recent webinar we gave for ICLEI.
How can I spread the word?
Tell your friends and neighbors! Also feel free to put a link to our website and/or our blog, Warm Home Cool Planet, on your site.