Participant outcomes in residential Pay As You Save® programs

Date Published
03/2024
Publication Type
Report
Authors
Abstract

In this report, we review the energy and financial outcomes for households participating in several programs based on successive versions of the Pay As You Save® (PAYS®) system. PAYS® programs offer non-debt financing for energy efficiency (and sometimes other technologies) in residential buildings and collect repayment through a tariff attached to the home's utility meter that is designed to be offset by project savings.

We collected and analyzed project financial data from five PAYS® programs and analyzed the electricity and gas usage impacts of one program (Midwest Energy) using weather-normalized methods applied to metered energy consumption data. We also calculated customer bill changes for participants in the Midwest program.

This analysis will enable interested jurisdictions to make a better-informed appraisal of PAYS® as a potential program solution for consumers by helping set expectations for the outcomes such programs might achieve. We also identify considerations for program design elements that might better enable PAYS® at scale.

Year of Publication
2024
Organizations
Research Areas
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