Energy Efficiency Programs and Incentives

Find utilities and statewide program sponsors that run commercial and industrial energy efficiency programs. These programs leverage ENERGY STAR resources to offer a mix of technical assistance and financial incentives. Updated semi-annually.

Program Information

Alabama Power: State Energy Program

The State of Alabama (ADECA) employs the State Energy Program to decrease energy consumption in public facilities such as K-12 schools, universities, community colleges, and state and local governments, as well as some privately owned commercial and residential buildings. Alabama Power assists the state by providing requested energy data related to these buildings.

Ameren Illinois: Retro Commissioning

Get professional guidance to identify cost-effective, energy-saving opportunities that will maximize your building’s performance and save you money. 

AEP Texas: SCORE^® and CitySmart^®

The SCORE/CitySmart Program gives educational and governmental institutions within the AEP Texas service territory the technical and financial resources necessary to help reduce energy spending. This program also offers customized solutions such as performance benchmarking, energy master planning workshops, and communications support. Incentives are available for qualifying energy efficiency equipment in new construction and retrofit projects.

Arizona Public Service (APS): Solutions for Business Program

Customers are encouraged to use Portfolio Manager to better understand how they use energy and identify opportunities to improve the efficiency of their facilities. Many of these opportunities will qualify for incentives through the APS Solutions for Business program. Additionally, customers must use Portfolio Manager to establish a baseline when pursuing retro-commissioning improvements and incentives.

Austin Energy: Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure Ordinance

Owners of commercial buildings affected by the City of Austin’s Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure (ECAD) ordinance must annually benchmark their facilities using either Austin Energy’s Keycode Reporting process or Portfolio Manager and submit the benchmarking results to Austin Energy. Austin Energy is responsible for the implementation of the ordinance and related energy efficiency programs.

Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE): Building Tune-Up

To take advantage of BGE’s Large and Small Building Tune-up Services, customers must be willing to benchmark their facility’s energy usage using Portfolio Manager or other program-approved benchmarking techniques. For buildings that are greater than 75,000 square feet and have complex HVAC systems, BGE provides incentives to cover up to 85 percent of the cost for tune-up services, with a per-project cap of $100,000. Buildings under 75,000 square feet are eligible for a per-project cap of $30,000. BGE also offers Monitoring Based Commissioning services with a pay for performance model cap of $100,000.

CenterPoint Energy: Commercial Market Transformation Program (C-MTP)

Through the Commercial Market Transformation Program (C-MTP), K-12 public and private schools, higher education, municipal governments, non-profits, healthcare and data center customers can obtain assistance in benchmarking their facilities using Portfolio Manager, developing an energy master plan, identifying and prioritizing energy efficiency projects, and communicating project successes to management and the community. ENERGY STAR certified LED lighting is included for incentives.

ComEd: Commercial Food Service

ComEd offers point-of-sale discounts to commercial and industrial customers on qualifying energy-efficient foodservice equipment. The qualified product list includes ENERGY STAR rated equipment.

ComEd: Facility Assessments

ComEd provides free facility assessments to help non-residential facilities identify opportunities to save energy and support efficiency projects. The process starts with an exchange of information between a building representative and a ComEd energy engineer followed by a site visit. A report detailing identified projects and estimated costs, savings, incentives, and payback is delivered in <4 weeks. The program encourages benchmarking, goal setting, and tracking through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, in addition to tools available through ComEd.

ComEd: PSCFA

Public School Carbon Free Assessments (PSCFAs) are no-cost decarbonization assessments available to all K-12 Public Schools in ComEd’s service territory. By completing an assessment, schools are provided with a report outlining opportunities related to energy efficiency, Solar, building envelope improvements, mechanical insulation, WELL Health and Safety, electric vehicles, whole facility electrification and project funding. To qualify for Construction Grant Funding under Section 5-40 of the Illinois School Construction law, a public school district must complete a PSCFA or request one and submit a copy as soon as it's available.

ComEd: Retro-Commissioning and Monitoring- Based Commissioning

ComEd uses Portfolio Manager to establish eligibility for its Retro- Commissioning and Monitoring-Based Commissioning programs. To be eligible, customers must have high energy use intensity or a low ENERGY STAR score in Portfolio Manager. The program also encourages participants to use Portfolio Manager as a benchmarking tool for their buildings. The program is offered in coordination with Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas, and North Shore Gas.

ComEd: Strategic Energy Management

ComEd leverages Treasure Hunts within various customer cohorts where treasure hunt results are reported back to ENERGY STAR. The program also encourages customers to enroll in the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry  and The Higher Education Benchmarking Initiative and supports customers with baseline energy models and prioritizing energy efficiency projects. ComEd SEM also supports K-12 and Commercial Real Estate customer benchmarking in Portfolio Manager by helping to raise their ENERGY STAR rating. In some cases, SEM is offered in coordination with Nicor, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas.

Consumers Energy: Retro-Commissioning Programs

Consumers Energy provides customers with the Portfolio Manager scores of their buildings and conducts a whole building assessment of the facility, identifying low cost/no cost facility improvement measures. Training in the use of Portfolio Manager is provided to customers so that they can continue to monitor their performance as they implement the identified energy efficiency measures. Incentives become available once the projects are implemented and the savings are verified.

Consumers Energy:  ENERGY STAR Programs

Consumers Energy offers a range of programs that leverage EPA’s Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool to help organizations reduce energy use. After benchmarking each building in your portfolio with Portfolio Manager, Consumers Energy conducts a walk-through assessment to identify easy, low- cost projects to start saving energy immediately. Recommendations for other programs are also provided for more savings through capital projects. For properties that are benchmarked and eligible to apply for ENERGY STAR certification, Consumers Energy also provides the required site visit and data verification at reduced cost. Consumers will pay up to $1,000 toward a licensed professional visit for first-time applicants, and up to $500 for repeat certifications.

Consumers Energy: Industrial Energy Management

Consumers Energy offers large industrial customers strategic energy management through multiple programs tailored to their needs. Among the options is the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry. Consumers supports the customer with an audit or kaizen event, technical support for implementing energy management and technical training at the customer’s facility. The program also offers added support to steam, compressed air, and wastewater customers and trade allies to increase awareness of industrial system efficiency improvements.

Delmarva Power: Full Building Tune-Up

Building Tune-up helps Delmarva Power's commercial and industrial customers identify energy-saving opportunities, with an emphasis on optimizing their existing system’s performance. Among other eligibility criteria, the facility must have higher-than-average electrical intensity based on analysis using EPA’s Portfolio Manager or other program-approved benchmarking techniques.  The program offers several paths under which customers can apply. The program offers incentives based on kWh saved, percentage of cost, and with a fixed incentive cap. For buildings 75,000 square and greater, it pays up to $0.20/kWh saved or 85 percent of the project cost, with a per-project cap of $300,000. Buildings under 75,000 square feet are also paid $0.25/kWh saved or 85 percent of the project cost, but with a per-project cap of $200,000. Delmarva Power also offers Monitoring Based Commissioning services with an incentive rate of $0.22 per kWh saved annually and a per-project cap of $300,000.

El Paso Electric: Large Commercial Plus and Small Commercial Solutions

The Large Commercial Plus Program provides incentives to K-12 public schools, higher education, government, and large commercial customers with an average annual peak demand of over 100 kW. The Small Commercial Solutions Program provides incentives to small business customers with an average annual peak demand of 100 kW or less. Projects that include highly efficient ENERGY STAR certified products such as commercial food service equipment, refrigeration equipment, HVAC equipment, lighting and pool pumps may be eligible to receive incentives from the programs.

El Paso Electric: SCORE® Plus and Commercial Comprehensive

Through the SCORE Plus Program, schools, government buildings, and large commercial facilities over 100 kW demand can obtain assistance in benchmarking their facilities using Portfolio Manager, developing an energy master plan, identifying and prioritizing energy efficiency projects, and communicating project successes to management and the community. The Commercial Comprehensive Program assists small commercial customers with energy efficient projects and offers online and mail-in rebates. Both the SCORE Plus and Commercial Comprehensive Programs provide incentives for projects that include highly efficient ENERGY STAR certified products such as commercial food service equipment, HVAC equipment, refrigerated beverage vending machines, lighting and pool pumps.

Entergy Arkansas: CitySmart^SM

Through the CitySmart program, customers can obtain assistance to benchmark their facilities using Portfolio Manager, develop an energy master plan, identify, and prioritize energy efficiency projects, and communicate project successes to management and the community.

Eversource and United Illuminating (UI): Retro-Commissioning

Eversource and UI, sponsors of Energize Connecticut, administer a retro- commissioning program. The program identifies energy savings by optimizing building control systems in existing commercial and industrial buildings, and customers are required to benchmark with Portfolio Manager or a similar benchmarking tool in order to participate in the program.

Focus on Energy: Business Offerings

Focus on Energy promotes ENERGY STAR resources through its market specific resource pages. These pages are geared towards commercial and industrial customer types, including, but not limited to, healthcare, retail, grocery, and manufacturing. Focus on Energy encourages the use of Portfolio Manager to all business customers and utilizes the tool for benchmarking initiatives targeting schools and government customers. Many technologies require ENERGY STAR certification in order to be eligible for incentives through Focus on Energy.

New Jersey Clean Energy Program: Pay for Performance – New Construction

The Pay for Performance New Construction (P4P NC) program provides a tiered incentive structure based on a project’s proposed design achieving a certain percent energy improvement from baseline energy code. Projects are benchmarked 12 months post-occupancy and receive an additional incentive if the project achieves a Portfolio Manager score of 75 or higher.

New Jersey Clean Energy Program: Local Government Energy Audit Program

The Local Government Energy Audit (LGEA) program provides a no-cost energy audit to eligible local governments, K-12 schools, state contracting agencies, public agencies, state colleges and state universities, and select nonprofit agencies. Projects are benchmarked using Portfolio Manager and results are provided as part of the energy audit report.

New Jersey Clean Energy Program: Benchmarking

New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program provides no-cost benchmarking to eligible commercial, industrial, and multifamily buildings. Buildings are benchmarked using Portfolio Manager and results are provided as part of the Benchmarking Report.

Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) : BetterBricks

BetterBricks is a commercial resource of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), providing resources and support for those designing, building, managing, and operating commercial buildings. With funding from Northwest utilities and energy efficiency organizations, BetterBricks accelerates the adoption of energy efficiency best practices by equipping building professionals with the knowledge and skills they need to incorporate energy efficiency into their business practices and increase their competitive position in the market. BetterBricks provides support and resources around benchmarking, including educational trainings on Portfolio Manager.

NV Energy: Energy Smart Schools

Nevada public schools and higher education institutions can receive assistance comparing the energy performance of their buildings with others in the district, the state, and the nation. The program requires customers to complete and submit a Portfolio Manager benchmarking data collection form in order to benchmark. The program staff works with customers to make sure that the data is complete and accurate.

Pepco: Full Building Tune-Up

Building Tune-up helps Pepco's commercial and industrial customers identify energy-saving opportunities,  with  an emphasis  on  optimizing their  existing system’s performance. Among other eligibility criteria, the facility must have higher-than-average   electrical   intensity  based   on   analysis  using   EPA’s Portfolio Manager or other program-approved benchmarking techniques. The program offers several paths under which customers can apply. The program offers incentives based on kWh saved, percentage of cost, and with a fixed incentive cap. For buildings 75,000 square and greater, it pays up to $0.25/kWh saved or  85  percent of  the project  cost, with a per-project  cap of $300,000. Buildings under 75,000 square feet are also paid $0.25/kWh saved or 85 percent of the project cost, but with a per-project cap of $200,000. Pepco also offers Monitoring Based Commissioning services with an incentive rate of $0.22 per kWh saved annually and a per-project cap $300,000.