NEWS YOU CAN USE [NYCU]... growing the industry together
JUNE 13, 2022 • MONDAY | CONTENTS


| REGULATORY UPDATES
  • Xcel Energy — Heat Pump EER and HSPF Rating Changes | HPWH Requirements Changes
  • PROGRAM UPDATES, REBATE, & NEWS | Xcel Energy
  • PROGRAM UPDATES | City of Denver

| MEMBER & INDUSTRY PARTNER ANNOUNCEMENTS & EVENTS
  • EVENT | New Energy Colorado’s Annual Solstice Party • June 21
  • EVENT | CRES Conference 'Renewables Powering Forward'
  • ARTICLE | Biden 'Declared heat pumps and solar panels essential'


| SAVE THE DATES • EEBC UPCOMING ACTION GROUP MEETINGS
  • Quarterly Member Meeting | REGISTER FOR JUNE 16th ZOOM MEETING
  • HP FORECAST 'Happy Hour'
  • HVAC/Heat Pump Action Groups — Manufacturers, Distributors, & Stakeholders
  • HVAC/Heat Pump Action Groups — Contractors/Dealers
  • Lighting Action Group
  • US Dept of Energy | ‘Hot news on heat pumps is this week?’

| MEMBERS' JOB POSTING
| REGULATORY UPDATES
60-DAY NOTICE RESULTS • EEBC MEMBER
POLICY ACTION FOLLOW-UP
HEAT PUMP/HVAC EER and HSPF Rating Changes | Effective on Friday the 13th of May, 2022, the reduced EER and HSPF changes went into effect! Attached are the updated Residential Rebate Summary and the updated Trade Incentives
 
Heat Pump Water Heater Requirement Change | For the $600 rebate, covering all ENERGY STAR-rated heat pump water heaters, it used to be that customers who were changing from a natural gas-powered water heater to an electric heat pump water heater could not qualify for the $600 rebate. That caveat has been removed, effective May 13, 2022. Reminder: If you would like to offer the heat pump water heater rebates, you must pass the HPWH class to be listed on the customer-facing list.
| PROGRAM UPDATES & REBATE NEWS | Xcel Energy
Heat Pump & Heat Pump Water Heater Rebates

HVAC-R 50% Bonus Rebates | Available for commercial refrigeration, cooling, heating, food service, motors, and VFDs. Pre-approved Custom HVAC-R projects are also eligible for the rebate. Explore Rebates

Bonus Rebates on LED Upgrades | For a limited time, your customers can earn higher rebate dollars - 25% bonus rebates on LED fixtures and 50% bonus rebates on linear tubes. Must submit qualifying invoices by the application deadline. Explore Rebates

New Rebate Payment Options for Commercial Customers 
The rebate payment process just got a lot easier for your customers. They can now receive rebate payments by check, bill credit, or direct deposit. Note: Direct Deposits are only available to Auto Pay account holders. If the rebate is being paid to an alternate rebate recipient, they can only receive a paper check. Another good reason to have your customers sign up for Commercial Auto Pay here.
| XCEL ENERGY NEWS

Xcel Energy-Colorado gets green light for $2B transmission project | A transmission project that Xcel Energy-Colorado said will help make way for more renewable energy on the grid has received a green light.

Xcel Energy said in a statement Thursday that the Colorado Public Utilities Commission has approved plans for the five segments of the company's Colorado's Power Pathway, a project that will cost up to $2 billion and will upgrade the state's high-voltage transmission system. Source: The Denver Post | ARTICLE
Net Zero Buildings Week | June 13-17 marks Net Zero Buildings Week, during which building organizations share and promote the benefits, of net-zero buildings for a healthy future! Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram to follow along and learn more about how to participateDenver Ranked #8.

2022 ENERGY STAR Top Cities | Denver was recently ranked as #8 on the EPA's list of cities with the most ENERGY STAR certified buildings. Denver's 205 ENERGY STAR certified buildings prevented 246,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere--the same amount produced from 48,100 homes in one year. Way to go Denver! 

New Incentives for Building All-Electric | The Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency (CASR) is pleased to announce electrification incentives for new buildings and homes. Designing and building with heat pump space and water heating systems come with a learning curve, so CASR will offer the following incentives to help prepare: 
  • Designs Incentives to demonstrate how to design all-electric buildings 
  • Pilot Projects to show that all-electric buildings are achievable in today's market 
  • To ensure an equitable and local focus, half of the pilot project funds will be prioritized for affordable housing or buildings that serve under-resourced communities in Denver. Denver-based and/or Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) firms and organizations are especially encouraged to apply. 

Join the Energize Denver Service Providers List: Take The Contractor Training and Pass the Contractor Quiz | The Energize Denver team created a fundamentals training course for vendors who will provide services related to Energize Denver. To be included on our list, providers must watch the Energize Denver 101 training video and pass the Energize Denver Contractor Training 101 quiz. Please visit the Find a Vendor page on the Energize Denver Hub for more information. The CASR team is still refining the incentives to be offered, so please visit our New Building Electrification Incentives website to share your feedback or apply today. 
| INDUSTRY PARTNER EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW ENERGY COLORADO'S ANNUAL SOLSTICE PARTY
JUNE 21, TUESDAY • 6:00 — 8:30 pm, The Retreat at Solterra
15250 W Evans Ave, Lakewood, CO 80228\

Join New Energy Colorado for the 10th annual Summer Solstice party. They are inviting everyone interested in helping to promote a future based on renewable energy and energy efficiency. We also celebrate great work by all the workers in solar and other renewable energy, green building, and energy efficiency. Llve music, beer, wine, food and short talks from some of our state’s leaders.  | TICKETS
COLORADO RENEWABLE ENERGY SOCIETY CONFERENCE
RENEWABLES POWERING FORWARD
AUGUST 6, SATURDAY • 9:00 am — 6:00 pm
Jefferson Unitarian, 14350 W. 32nd Ave., Golden, CO 80401
REGISTER BY JULY 1, 2022 FOR 10% OFF USE PROMO CODE: ENERGY22

It is hard to overstate how much has changed on the energy front in the past decade. This conference will show how key elements in this evolving energy landscape fit together and why we stand a real chance to solve climate when we solve energy.

The sessions focus on selected pillars of the energy transition, starting with the requirements for a modernized power grid that can handle intermittent and distributed renewables, and the big role of storage in making the grid reliable.
President Biden invokes Defense Production Act to Accelerate Domestic Manufacturing of Clean Energy
President Biden today issued presidential determinations providing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with the authority to utilize the Defense Production Act (DPA) to accelerate domestic production of five key energy technologies: (1) solar; (2) transformers and electric grid components; (3) heat pumps; (4) insulation; and (5) electrolyzers, fuel cells, and platinum group metals.

DOE’s Continued Commitment to Bolstering a Domestic Clean Energy Supply Chain In February, DOE launched the new Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains to secure energy supply chains needed to modernize America’s energy infrastructure and support the full transition to clean energy. DOE will also partner with the energy and utility industry, labor unions, and community groups to explore a variety of options on supply chain issues, including through the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council. DOE recently released a major set of reports on the energy supply chain laying out the nation’s first comprehensive strategy for the energy industrial base with a focus on securing the transition to clean energy.  
Source: ENERGY.GOV | ARTICLE
President Biden Declared Heat Pumps and Solar Panels Essential to National Defensehere’s why and the challenges ahead.
SOURCE: KCP | ARTICLE
HEAT PUMP WEEK!
Are you wondering what the hot news on heat pumps is this week?

DOE to Partner with Heating Industry to Improve Performance and Energy-Efficiency of Cold Climate Heat Pumps. Vice President Kamala Harris will join U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in New York today to announce DOE has confirmed the first six industry partners to participate in the Cold Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge.

  • Cost-Saving Furnace Efficiency Standards | As reported in CNN, today the Department of Energy is proposing new energy efficiency standards for residential gas furnaces, which will save households a total of $1.9 billion annually on utility bills—part of 100 energy efficiency actions the Administration is completing this year to save an average family $100 annually. The proposed rule will cut greenhouse gas emissions over 30 years by an amount equivalent to annual emissions from 61 million homes. The proposal also requests comments on how heat pump prices are expected to decrease as a result of policies like the President’s support for domestic heat pump manufacturing, accelerating the transition to heating & cooling equipment powered by clean electricity.

  • HEATR Act and ICEE HOT Act | As reported in Axios and Politico, this week senior White House officials will be meeting with lawmakers to advance legislation that would further incentivize American manufacturing of high-efficiency, affordable heat pumps—the Heating Efficiency and Affordability through Tax Relief (HEATR) Act and the Installing Clean Efficient Energy Hastens Our Transition (ICEE HOT) Act.

  • Heat Pump Innovation Challenge | Later this week, the Department of Energy will announce the first winner of the Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge, a partnership with companies working to develop next-generation heat pumps designed for particularly cold regions. The Challenge was launched in May 2021 at the White House, and in November 2021 Vice President Harris joined Energy Secretary Granholm to announce the first six heat pump manufacturers partnering with the Administration.
| SAVE THE DATES • UPCOMING ACTION GROUPS [VIRTUAL] MEETINGS
EEBC QUARTERLY MEMBER MEETING
June 16th @ 7:30 am

HELD AS A ZOOM MEETING

TOPIC: Beneficial Electrification Is It Destined To Be Our Industry’s ‘New Normal’?
KEYNOTE SPEAKER #1: Barend Dronkers, E Source, The Products Strategist - Customer Energy Solutions, North America — Beneficial Electrification Subject Matter Expert
 
TOPIC: Xcel Energy Answers The Most Common Question By Their Consumers & The EE Industry...
Do We Have Enough Energy To Electrify The Utility Grid?
KEYNOTE SPEAKER #2: Mark Schoenheider, Xcel Energy, Manager Energy Efficiency Marketing

POLICY ACTION COMMITTEE [PAC] & INDUSTRY ACTION GROUPS
What EEBC’s Action Groups are Doing to Get Ahead & Influence Decisions for Their Business
EEBC Rolls Out “Hiring Pipeline” Contractor Program – Workforce Support To Fit The 2030 Acceleration Goals

UPDATES | LOCAL REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Legislative Bills • DSM Strategic Issues, Xcel Energy's Goal Settings That Influence DSM [Rebate] Programs For the Next 5 Years • Xcel Energy 2023 DSM [Rebate] Plan
HVAC/HEAT PUMP ACTION GROUPS | RESOURCE HUB
HP FORECAST 'HAPPY HOUR' MEETING
Contact patricia@eebco.org - if you would like to attend the next meeting.

MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS, & STAKEHOLDERS | | JULY 7th @ 3-4:00 pm | REGISTER
TOPICS | EEBC Progress "Hiring Pipeline" Program For Contractors Update. HP Forecast Update.

CONTRACTORS / DEALERS | JULY 21st @ 3-4:00 pm | REGISTER
TOPICS | EEBC Progress "Hiring Pipeline" Program For Contractors Update. Prioritize Tools & Resources for Growth. HP Forecast Update.

HVAC/HEAT PUMP ACTION GROUPS, Co-Chairs
• Shawn LeMons, Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US LLC slemons@hvac.mea.com 
• Pete Perret, GA Larson pete.perret@galarson.com
LIGHTING ACTION GROUP | RESOURCE HUB
CONTRACTORS, DISTRIBUTORS, & MANUFACTURERS | JULY 13th • 4:00-5:00 pm | REGISTER
HELD 2nd WEDNESDAYS OF THE MONTH 4:00-5:00 pm
TOPICS | Continued Dialog with Xcel Energy — Positive Feedback on Survey Results

LIGHTING ACTION GROUP, Co-Chairs
• Mike Bryant, Nuova Luce, LLC mike@nluce.com 
• Scot Kelley, Colorado Lighting, Inc. skelley@coloradolighting.com
| MEMBERS' JOB POSTING
Helio Home • Zero Energy Home Assessor in the Metro Area | JUNE 2022
Helio Home wants to help transition homes off fossil fuels. We are a one-stop-shop for homeowners to electrify their homes - heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, EV chargers, insulation and air sealing work, solar and batteries - no more fossil fuels. Why use expensive polluting fuels when there are great alternatives, often better? We currently install in about 20 homes/month in the Metro area and are growing. Please phone or text Bill at 970-846-4766 if interested you are interested. | MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSITION
JOIN YOUR ACTION GROUP TODAY!  BECOME AN EEBC MEMBER | APPLICATION