Project Requirements

What is a Project?

A project is defined by a set of proposed or installed measures and estimated demand and energy savings included in a single Project Application. Comprehensive projects that include a range of measure types are encouraged.

Retrofit Projects

Energy-efficient retrofit measures in residential and small commercial facilities that reduce electric energy consumption and system peak demand at the host customer site(s) are eligible for the Residential and Small Commercial Standard Offer Program (Res/Com SOP). Eligible measures do not include new construction measures, repair or maintenance activities, or behavioral changes.

There is no minimum project size.
Separate projects may also be aggregated to ensure that no more than 65% of the total project's capacity and energy savings payments are derived from energy-efficient lighting equipment or lighting controls.

New Construction Projects

In order to qualify under the "affordable housing" single-family new construction program, a house must be constructed to meet ENERGY STAR standards as certified by a home energy rater.

For multi-family new construction projects, the building envelope must be constructed to meet the International Residential Code or the International Energy Conservation Code and the project must meet one of the following criteria:

Trust Fund Funds (state or local);
HUD (including HOME, CDBG, Sec. 202, Sec. 811, Sec. 8);
Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program;
USDA/Rural Development; or
Multi-family Bond.

Multi-family construction projects are limited to the following measures:

High-efficiency air conditioning systems and heat pumps;
ENERGY STAR labeled windows; and
ENERGY STAR labeled refrigerator

EFFICIENCY STANDARDS

Entergy has designed the Res/Com SOP to encourage electric energy efficiency improvements that go above and beyond the efficiency gains typically achieved in retrofit or replacement projects. Consequently, energy and demand savings credit will be based only on reductions that exceed current industry accepted minimum efficiency standards, where applicable.

ELIGIBLE MEASURES

Project Sponsors may install any measure for which a deemed, or stipulated, savings value has been approved by the PUCT. Project sponsors may propose other measures, provided they meet the following requirements:

Measure must produce a measurable and verifiable electric demand reduction and/or produce electricity consumption savings;
Measure must produce savings through an increase in energy efficiency or a substitution of another energy source for electricity;
Renewable energy measures meeting the requirements of The Energy Efficiency Rule (Subst. R. 25.181), relating to the Energy Efficiency Goal may qualify for an incentive;
Measure must have a minimum useful life of 10 years; and
Measure must meet or exceed minimum equipment standards established by the PUCT, if such standards have been established.

INELIGIBLE MEASURES

Low-flow shower heads and aerators are NOT eligible under the Res/Com SOP;
Screw in compact fluorescent lightbulbs are NOT eligible under the Res/Com SOP;
Measures that do not raise efficiency above current standards;
Measures with an expected life of less than 10 years;
Cogeneration and self-generation projects;
Load shifting/load management measures;
Load reductions caused by building vacancies;
Measures that rely solely on customer behavior or require no capital investment;
Measures that decrease building plug loads, such as "Green Plugs" or computer inactivity time-out controls;
Measures for which incentives were received under another Entergy program;
Repair and maintenance projects;
Energy-efficient gas measures when replacing non-electric technologies; and
Measures that result in negative environmental or health effects.

OTHER NOTES

As a general rule, measures involving "plug loads" (equipment or appliances that are plugged into standard electrical outlets) are not permitted. This restriction may be waived by Entergy if the Project Sponsor provides reasonable assurance that the energy and/or demand savings associated with such measures are likely to persist over a 10-year period of time and that quantifiable energy and/or demand reduction meeting the requirements of the PUCT's Energy Efficiency Rule can indeed be achieved through the proposed measure(s).

If the Project Sponsor pursues measures for which deemed savings values have not been approved by the PUCT, then the Project Sponsor must follow the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP).

Entergy will be the final authority on whether any particular measure is eligible for incentives.