Washington

In March 2009, Snohomish County PUD introduced the Solar Express Program. This program provides rebates to support residential and commercial installations of solar photovoltaics (PV) and solar water heating (SWH). 

This rebate program provides $300 per kilowatt (kW) of installed PV, up to a cap of $2,000 for residential premises and $8,000 for commercial premises (as determined by the PUD rate class). A flat rebate of $500 per system is provided for solar water heating. 

Interested customers must get a site assessment and bid from an approved installer, and get PUD approval prior to installation.The PUD will conduct a pre- and post-installation inspection. PV systems must be interconnected and have a net metering agreement with the PUD.

Snohomish County PUD No 1 offers financial incentives to help offset the cost of non-residential customers to increase the energy efficiency of facilities. Commercial customers can receive prescriptive rebates for certain equipment types and custom incentives for a broader array of efficiency improvements. Custom incentives are paid based on the amount of electricity saved. Commercial, industrial, school, non-profit, or governmental buildings in Snohomish County can be eligible. Snohomish County PUD No 1 also offers the Energy Smart Grocer Rebate Program for grocery stores, convenient stores, and other facilities with commercial refrigeration. The program offers a free complete energy analysis of the facility's refrigeration and then offers custom rebates based on the results.

Seattle City Light (SCL) works with design teams of their commercial and industrial customers to create high performance buildings with low long-term operating costs. The utility provides financial support for professional engineering services to research and evaluate various building system designs.

The utility also offers funding to help customers develop an independent commissioning plan.
Financial assistance is also available for the installation of equipment and controls that go beyond energy code requirements. Examples include lighting and controls, HVAC equipment, and custom measures. These rebates are based on energy savings gained from equipment upgrades. 

Seattle City Light offers a variety of rebates to commercial and industrial customers through the Energy Smart Services Program. Energy Smart Services are available to commercial businesses, manufacturing plants, institutions, and government facilities on the Medium General Service rate and larger. Incentives for this program are calculated using the annual kWh savings of the project, and can cover up to 70% of the installation cost. Eligible measures include lighting, HVAC equipment, controls, transformers, data center efficiency improvements, and commercial food service and cooking equipments upgrades. Industrial customers can also receive an incentive of up to 70% for qualifying process improvements. Custom incentives are also available for large and complex projects.

The Smart Business Program is available to small businesses in Seattle City Light's service served on the ESMC or ESMS rate schedule that are not part of a chain, campus, or larger institution. 

Port Angeles Public Works and Utilities provides incentives for business customers to increase the energy efficiency of eligible facilities. Rebates are offered for a variety of improvements including increased insulation levels, installation of energy efficient commercial appliances, lighting retrofits, and custom projects. To qualify, the work must be completed by a City Authorized Contractor. To participate, interested customers must first fill out a rebate application located on the program web site. For detailed information on specific rebates look at the Commercial Energy Conservation Rebate Brochure and Commercial Appliance Rebate Brochure provided by the program.

Pacific Power's FinAnswer Express Program includes incentives and technical assistance for lighting, HVAC and other equipment upgrades that increase energy efficiency and exceed code requirements in commercial and industrial facilities. Both retrofits of existing equipment and new construction projects are eligible for incentives. For retrofits, the utility may need to verify existing equipment. Prescriptive rebates and custom incentives calculated from energy savings are available.  

Pacific Power's Energy FinAnswer program provides cash incentives to help its commercial and industrial customers improve their heating, cooling, refrigeration, compressed air, lighting, pumping or industrial processes. New construction and retrofit projects for all industrial facilities can participate as well as all new commercial projects and commercial retrofits in facilities larger than 20,000 square feet. 

Pacific Power will be involved from the beginning of construction, starting by reviewing the facility plans and identifying possible efficiency opportunities. Next, Pacific Power will prepare an energy analysis report consisting of specific recommendations and refined estimates of what each will cost and how much they'll save. It will also include an incentive offer and any commissioning requirements. Pacific Power pays for this study. 

After the incentive agreement is finalized, purchase orders can be signed and construction can begin. Documentation of the final costs of the energy efficiency measures with labor and material itemized must be delivered to the utility before the incentive payment is made.  

Lakeview Light and Power offers a commercial lighting rebate program. Rebates apply to the installation of energy efficient lighting retrofits in non-residential buildings. The rebate program is funded by BPA and ends in September of 2010 or earlier if the funding is exhausted. Lakeview Light & Power hired Demand Side Engineering (DSE) to administer the program.

Inland Power offers a variety of incentives for agricultural/irrigation customers to save energy on participating farms. Rebates are available for a variety of sprinkler equipment (nozzles, gaskets, regulators, sprays, drains, hubs, etc), irrigation motor replacements, and variable frequency drives for small milking machines. Specific equipment requirements and rebate amounts, as well as a rebate calculator form and application form, are located on the program web site. Inland Power also offers a custom rebate of up to $0.15 per kWh, not to exceed 70% of project cost, for other agricultural measures not included in the prescriptive rebate program. Custom projects must be submitted to Inland for review and have BPA approval before the purchase of the equipment and installation.

Columbia REA, through the Bonneville Power Administration, offers an irrigation energy efficiency program for its agricultural customers. Stationary systems are not eligible for this program due to the number of sprinklers per acre. Replacement sprinklers are eligible for retrofits identified by utility staff, the consumer, the irrigation equipment dealer, or through pump testing and system evaluation. The new sprinkler nozzle flow rate must be the same or lower than those replaced. A variety of different irrigation equipment including gaskets, sprays, sprinklers, nozzles, drains, and drop tubes are eligible for rebates.