BGE Limited Income Pilot Programs - Evaluation

1. BGE Limited IncomePilot Programs - Evaluation ACI Home Performance Conference March 2012

2. Presentation Overview • Pilot Summary • Evaluation Research • CAMP/GRAD Credits • Participant Survey • Pilot Impacts • Usage Impacts • Arrearage Impacts • Collections Impacts • Cost Effectiveness • Recommendations 2

3. BGE Limited Income Pilots 3

4. Pilot Motivation • Existing limited-income discount program • Incentive for on-time bill payment • But only 27% receive credit for timely bill payment.  • New pilots • Attempt to cost-effectively increase on-time payment • Test different programs and benefits • Determine impacts on payments and usage • Determine cost-effectiveness 4

5. Pilot Programs CAMP • 1-Double bill credit • 2-Existing credits and payment counseling • 3-Double bill credit and payment counseling GRAD • 1-Graduated credits • 2-Graduated credits and Quick Home Energy Check-up • 3-Graduated credits and payment counseling 5

6. Evaluation research 6

7. Evaluation Questions • Did the programs… • Reduce usage? • Improve on-time bill payment? • Reduce collections and non-payment expenses? • Could the program… • Be modified to improve cost-effectiveness? • Be scaled up for all BGE limited-income customers? What would be the costs of such a program? • What other changes are recommended for full scale implementation? 7

8. Evaluation Research • Program Database Analysis – program participation and services delivered • BGE Interviews – program parameters, customer selection, collection strategies and implementation, and potential improvement. • Dollar Energy – implementationbarriers, customers’ interest and concerns, customer response to payment counseling 8

9. Evaluation Research • Participant Survey – program understanding, impacts, and satisfaction • Billing, Usage, and Collection Data Retrieval and Analysis – impact analysis • Cost-Effectiveness Analysis– pilot and full scale cost-effectiveness 9

10. Camp/grad Credits received 10

11. Pre Pilot CAMP Statistics • The average monthly credit is $7.09 • 60 percent of the customers received at least one credit • In the average month, only about 27% of these customers received a credit for timely bill payment.  • Average annual credit is $7.09*12 months*.27 = $23 11

12. CAMP Pilot Credits 12

13. GRAD Pilot Credits 13

14. Customer survey 14

15. Survey Goals • Customer understanding of pilot benefits and services. • Customer perception of pilot impacts on bill payment, energy consumption, and program participation. • Potential impacts of payment counseling and energy audits. • Customer satisfaction with pilot benefits and services. 15

16. Pilot Enrollment 16

17. Previous Program Credits 17

18. Pilot Benefits 18

19. Bill Payment 19

20. Energy Usage 20

21. Program Participation 21

22. Payment Counseling 22

23. Energy Audit 23

24. Energy Audit Impact 24

25. Bill Payment Problems 25

26. Sufficiency of Program Assistance 26

27. Survey Findings • Many customers don’t understand program • Only 16-25% knew they received bigger credit • 65% knew they received discount based on usage • 13% recalled payment counseling call • 69% recalled audit • Reported impacts • Half say they pay bill on time more often • One third to one half say they use less energy • One quarter say they participated in another program • High program satisfaction 27

28. Usage impacts 28

29. CAMPElectric Baseload Impacts No significant CAMP pilot impacts on electric baseload usage. 29

30. CAMPElectric HEATING Impacts Significant reduction in electric heating usage for double credit only CAMP pilot group. 30

31. CAMPGas Impacts No significant CAMP pilot impacts on gas usage. 31

32. GRADElectric Baseload Impacts No significant GRAD pilot impacts on electric baseload usage. 32

33. GRADElectric Baseload ImpactsBy Pre-Treatment Usage Significant reduction in electric baseload usage for highest pre-usage GRAD pilot group. 33

34. GRADElectric Heating Impacts Significant reduction in electric heating usage for all GRAD pilot and credit only group. 34

35. GRADElectric Heating ImpactsBy Pre-Treatment Usage Significant reduction in electric heating usage for highest pre-usage GRAD pilot group. 35

36. GRADGas Impacts Significant reduction in gas usage for credit and audit GRAD pilot group. 36

37. Usage Impact Summary • CAMP • Double credit only electric heaters: 5% electric usage reduction. • GRAD • Highest non-electric heating users: 4% electric baseload reduction. • Electric heaters: 4% electric usage reduction. • Electric heaters, credit only: 5% electric usage reduction. • Highest electric heating users: 5% electric usage reduction. • Credits and audit group: 4% gas usage reduction. 37

38. Arrearage impacts 38

39. CAMP Arrearage Impacts 39

40. GRAD Arrearage Impacts 40

41. COLLECTIONS impacts 41

42. CAMP Collections Impacts 42

43. GRAD Collections Impacts 43

44. Cost effectiveness 44

45. Costs and Benefits Highlighted items are included in full scale implementation costs. 45

46. Net Costs 46

47. recommendations 47

48. Pilot Design • Self-selection: those who responded to letters enrolled – difficult to extrapolate to all customers. • Stratification: done differently for CAMP, GRAD, and comparison group – difficult to estimate and compare results • CAMP: # on-time payments, poverty level • GRAD: # on-time payments, electric usage, arrearages • Enrollee tracking: difficult to examine data attrition issues. 48

49. Administration • Data access for DEF payment counselors • Could respond to customer questions • Would not have to refer to BGE • Payment timing • Social Security recipients had trouble with payments • Change bill due date to align with benefit payment at customer’s request 49

50. Customer Education • Customers were unaware of program elements • Many communication opportunities • Invitation letter • Phone enrollment • Confirmation letter • Shorten and simplify written communication 50