Case Studies

Governor's Clean Energy Challenge

Marketing Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy to Businesses and Institutions

Challenge:

The New England Clean Energy Council wanted to create a program to support Massachusetts organizations in reducing their carbon footprints through energy efficiency and clean energy measures. Together with Governor Deval Patrick, the Council had announced the creation of the Governor's Clean Energy Challenge, but it needed leadership, planning, and execution to take it from an idea to a fully realized program - fast. The goal was to make carbon footprint reduction attractive to and easily achievable by every type and size of organization across the commonwealth.

Approach:

  • Exploration
    • We undertook a comprehensive study of municipal, state and national non-residential energy efficiency programs, taking particular note of any that had been structured as contests or challenges.
    • We interviewed members of the Council's Adoption Task Force (ATF), the volunteer board responsible for developing the idea, to gather information about goals, known issues, technologies, utility market structures, and incentives.
    • We sat down with leadership of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to identify their goals and interests. They directed us to additional key contacts whom we also interviewed.
    • We met with both marketing and energy efficiency program managers at Cape Light Compact, Fitchburg Gas & Electric, NSTAR, National Grid, and Western Mass Electric to understand the ways in which this program could coordinate with and support their efforts.
    • We convened and oversaw small advisory groups to make recommendations on issues including best practices in converting consumption to CO2 emissions, data normalization factors, creating reasonable and achievable carbon reduction goals, developing a unified information-sharing approach that would work across multiple utility IT platforms, legal ramifications of allowing third-party access to consumption data, etc.
  • Articulation
    • We pulled best practices from existing and past programs and developed a target schedule for milestones.
    • We finalized Challenge sponsorship from Bay State Gas, Cape Light Compact, Fitchburg Gas & Electric, NSTAR, National Grid, and Western Mass Electric.
    • We developed simple messaging in lay terms and immediately began to plan outreach to potential participants, including a conference and expo and direct marketing from sponsors.
    • We quickly developed a roster of "Mentor" organizations who were willing to share their vast energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment experience with Challenge participants. We met and communicated with them frequently. Mentors included Boston Sand & Gravel, Genzyme, Kirkland Cleaners, Millipore, Pfizer, Raytheon, Staples, and Willy's Gym.
  • Implementation
    • We developed a logo and branding for the Challenge, along with graphic badges for use by participants, mentors, and sponsors in their marketing materials.
    • We found a resource, Peregrine Energy Group, who could pull monthly utility consumption data and convert it into normalized CO2 emissions for every participant, delivering clear and simple reports. Peregrine agreed to donate the entire first year of their services.
    • We secured agreements from all sponsors to fast track participant energy audits (there was a 6 to 12 month wait list at the time).
    • We solicited and edited case studies from each of the Mentor organizations.
    • We developed a website and an interface through which participants could register for the Challenge, read and submit success stories, read energy efficiency and renewable energy news of interest, find vendors offering local energy efficiency and clean energy services, access their reports, and keep up to date on local events of interest.
    • With the Council, we organized and ran a one-day conference that drew almost 200 attendees, 16 exhibitors, and 15 speakers.
    • Over the course of 2009 and 2010, we organized quarterly participant educational events, negotiated annual sponsorships and partnerships, managed the website, corresponded or spoke at least quarterly with all Participants, managed Council staff dedicated to the Challenge, met frequently with utility staff and DOER, and reworked the program to accommodate the changing utility landscape after the three-year energy efficiency plans were approved.
  • Evaluation
    • We oversaw personal outreach to every Challenge participant to gather and answer questions and assess their satisfaction with the process.
    • We created periodic reports tracking emissions changes in aggregate, by fuel/energy provider, and individually. We also tracked energy efficiency and renewable energy measures planned, undertaken, and completed; participant attendance at events; email open and click-through rates; and Challenge visibility via articles and blog posts.

Results:

The Governor's Clean Energy Challenge goal was to help Massachusetts organizations reduce their carbon footprints by 10% over the course of three years. In aggregate, the program achieved the three-year goal in one year. The 100 participating organizations gave extremely positive feedback about the effectiveness of the Challenge in making it easier and more attractive for them to reduce their CO2 emissions.