Better Rebates

By the People Who Helped Create Them

After decades working in traditional rebate programs it became clear that a new approach was needed to better serve customers while meeting the time and location-based priorities of grid managers. 

The traditional approach of estimating the value of the project upfront has become bogged down in regulatory requirements and misses several opportunities. Fortunately new technologies have made it possible to accurately measure the hourly energy savings and value of every project. And it turns out that most energy efficiency projects are worth much more when measured in this way, allowing us to reward customers and contractors with much higher rebates for their efficiency projects.

Peak was started by the people who spent a decade in the room building California's meter-based savings methodology, the actual mechanics of how rebates get measured, approved, and paid. Peak’s entire operation is built around how to make it easy and lucrative for customers and contractors to participate in this new rebate approach. Other businesses are bolting support for this new rebate structure onto existing processes and systems that don’t play well with this new method.

Where The Old Way

Breaks Down

Most contractors who've been through a rebate program before, hit the same wall: paperwork that drags on, applications that get rejected without a clear reason, rebates that land lower than expected, and a payment timeline nobody can pin down.

Of that list, slow payment and low payment are what breaks trust. None of that is a reason to avoid rebates. It's a reason to work with a company with a business model that removes those issue.

Peak pays rebates to contractors within 15 days, and we pay the rebate amount we committed to at the start of the project.

What We (Actually) Do Differently

  • We know the utility programs from the inside, not just the contractor side. Our team’s combined 60+ years in efficiency rebate programs means fewer surprises in your application, and a stronger shot at clearing on the first pass.

  • We speak contractor and policy. We know this isn’t your full-time job, so we absorb the utility back-and-forth and hand you only what you need to bid and plan. .

  • We manage the entire process, application, compliance, follow-up, so it’s not sitting on your desk. And we get you paid fast, and tell you the real number, not an aspirational one

  • We carefully review your project and tell you right away the amount of rebate you’ll receive for your project. And barring significant scope changes, we’ll pay you that amount at project completion. Gone are the days of getting bad news about your rebate after your project has already completed installation.

  • Applying rebates to your project improves ROI, allowing you to win bids and win internal project approval, while improving ROI.

The History Behind The Rebates

Peak was in the room when California's meter-based approach to measuring energy savings was created 10 years ago. CEO Josiah Adams personally helped shape the calculation methodology, worked the regulatory adoption process, and had a hand in program budget allocation and measurement-and-verification standards.

After decades working in traditional rebate programs it became clear that a new approach was needed to better serve customers while meeting the time and location-based priorities of grid managers.

That depth of regulatory and technical relationship is why Peak can secure rebates other companies simply can't. Peak isn't interpreting the rules from the outside; it helped write them. Peak was founded specifically to prove out this approach and drive its adoption, first across California, and now beyond.

Why meter-based?

The meter-based approach offers several advantages over traditional rebate programs. These improvements apply to different groups:

Contractors/customers:

Higher rebates. Measuring projects actual performance proves that efficiency projects are worth much more than was thought using traditional techniques.

Significantly reduced engineering review burden. This occurs because we are no longer trying to prove how much energy a project will save before it is installed. Instead, we now simply measure how much the project actually saves, so we can be much less rigorous upfront because it’s just the results that matter, not the upfront estimate.

Rewards participants for finding projects that save energy during the most valuable times and at the most valuable locations. For example, a project that saves energy during summer evenings is California is worth up to 4x what it would be in a traditional program.

Emerging Technologies are eligible. Instead of waiting 2-5 years for new technologies to be eligible for traditional rebates, new technologies can now earn rebates much earlier in their development process.

Utilities and Regulators:

Safeguarding ratepayers: The pay-for-performance model of meter-based programs ensures that ratepayer funds are spent wisely.

Reduced engineering review: This reduces costs for program administration at both the utility and regulatory levels.

More reliable energy impacts. Measuring hourly impact for every project gives utilities reliable information about the performance of their efficiency portfolios, which can then be used in procurement decisions.

Ongoing M&V. Regulators and utilities can see the performance of projects and programs within months, rather than waiting 2-3 years for traditional measurement and verification processes.