Renew America Success Stories

Energy Efficiency Program

 

The Wahoo Utilities Energy Efficiency Program provides incentives to all customers purchasing electricity from Wahoo Utilities to make improvements to their homes and business buildings that will improve energy efficiency without sacrificing comfort or convenience. 

The program offers customers free energy audits to demonstrate what improvements can be made to reduce energy costs. The audit also provides a financial analysis of a wide range of energy savings options to help identify the lowest life cycle cost option. Finally, Wahoo Utilities provides financial incentives for the purchase of high-efficiency appliances and technologies, including heat pumps, lighting and insulation. 

The Energy Efficiency Program has served to reduce air pollution and helped conserve natural resources such as coal and natural gas. In addition, the program has helped many lower-income individuals make energy-efficiency improvements they otherwise could not have afforded and the program has provided Wahoo Utilities with the ability to utilize efficient demand-side management of energy production. 

Substantial energy and financial savings have been realized, in part due to an aggressive education program, in a community that already had the lowest electric rate in Nebraska and one of the lowest rates in the country. 

Program Highlights 

• The program covers water heaters, furnaces, heat pumps, air conditioners, insulation, water heater wraps, lighting, refrigeration, caulking and weather-stripping and hot water pipe wraps.
• Among other financial incentives, the program offers payments of 12.5 cents per cooling kilowatt hour saved and low-interest loans of up to $10,000.

• Wahoo Utilities is currently offering significant technical and financial assistance in the design and construction of a major addition to the Wahoo civic center, including an indoor swimming pool, jogging track, racquetball courts and more.

• Wahoo Utilities is currently offering significant technical and financial assistance in the design and construction of a new motel for the community.
• A lighting engineering study is being funded by Wahoo Utilities to suggest state-of-the-art lighting applications.
• Wahoo Utilities is funding the purchase and installation of an advanced motel energy management system and costs for the first year's monitoring.
• Wahoo Utilities obtained high-efficiency heat pumps for the rooms.
• Wahoo Utilities is providing financial incentives to install efficient lighting, windows, insulation and HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning).

Vital Statistics

Program Management/Partnerships: The Energy Efficiency Program is managed by Wahoo Utilities. Wahoo Utilities is working with trade allies and the local school system to educate local residents about the environmental and financial advantages of energy efficiency. 

Budget: $168,000 total project cost. 

Community Served: The nearly 2,000 residential and business customers of Wahoo Utilities. Wahoo, Nebraska has a population of just under 4,000 people. 

Measures of Success:

Since the program began, nearly 350 residential audits have been completed and energy efficiency work has been completed on 200 homes and nine commercial buildings.

Participating residences have saved 350,000 KWH's (kilowatt hours) of electricity and 65,000 natural gas therms.

Participating businesses have saved 78,000 KWH's.

The program saves more than 198 million BTU's (British thermal units) annually.

Annual energy savings result in reduced energy costs of more than $45,000 a year, for a total return on investment in just under four years.

More than 100 efficient heat pumps have been installed, representing a 5% market penetration in a very short time.

More than $640,000 in cash rebates and interest-free loans has been provided to the community.