Modern energy efficiency programs require modern platforms
Modern energy efficiency programs require modern platforms
Shortly after taking on the role of leading CLEAResult’s technology organization, I spent time in person listening to our clients. Not just our largest or most vocal clients, but a wide-ranging sample that would provide clear and comprehensive insights into their experiences and associated outcomes.
Patterns began to emerge, pointing to common challenges and consistent sources of friction. The issue was not lack of effort. In most cases, the culprit was some combination of three things – if not all three: systems not talking to each other, spreadsheets doing jobs they were never designed to do, and poor data quality compounded by a lack of standardization.
Those conversations come to mind because the gap between the outcomes programs are asked to deliver and what legacy systems and processes can execute keeps widening.
The math has changed
With average electricity prices up roughly 30% since 2021, significant portions of the general public find utility costs outpacing their wage increases. Every program dollar now faces additional scrutiny, with higher expectations for more significant outcomes. Large new loads originating from electrification and data centers are projected to drive consumption up by more than 100% within the next four years. Given these changes, regulators require more detailed reporting delivered faster and more frequently.
Customers have also changed in meaningful ways. They expect a frictionless, fully digital experience in near-real time. They compare the rebate application they submitted to the last good digital experience they had anywhere. Qualifying, tracking status, resolving issues, and getting paid quickly are all expected to occur seamlessly and without calling anyone. When a platform can’t deliver a fully digital experience, program participation drops, and the people we need to reach most are the first ones lost to friction.
Legacy process failures are rarely publicized loudly. They fail quietly and slowly under the guise of standard operating procedure. Program managers are forced to support rekeyed data, point-to-point integrations, and manual data cleanup. Time is wasted assembling reports aggregated into dashboards instead of acting on data to deliver outcomes. Nobody plans for that. It simply evolves and accumulates until the system meant to serve the program becomes the thing the program works around.
What a platform actually changes
When operating with a modern platform, an eligibility check completes in sub-second time instead of minutes. Income-qualified customers enroll instead of giving up. Contractors submit work orders through a portal that validates data at the point of entry, correcting errors at the source in real time. Payments are disbursed and transactions execute without manual workarounds in near-real time – not the next business day when staff arrive to manually review the previous day’s orders. When workflows, reports, and transactions source from one integrated data platform, the numbers reported to regulators, program teams, and executives all match.
Modern platforms enable scale and agility while maintaining quality and performance. Most systems force trade-offs between those non-negotiables. Growth has meant more people, more handoffs, and more variance, all leading to diminished outcomes. A well-built platform breaks that trade-off, because the workflow that enabled your best program becomes the standard workflow every program runs on. From multi-year delivery models with stacked incentives to equity-oriented programs with targeted outreach, a modern platform enables programs to scale quickly without losing quality.
That thinking is behind our continued investment in CLEAResult ATLAS™. Eligibility verification for income-based incentive programs, management of distributed energy resources, and contractor work order submissions all occur in one place. Our platform shows clients where their next dollar drives the greatest outcomes. From upstream and midstream incentives to administrative simplification, CLEAResult ATLAS™ was built on years of successfully executing programs across North America and delivering measurable results.
The next test is already here
As the new era of technology takes shape across global enterprises, it’s ironic that the very same innovation starting to reshape program delivery is also driving the steepest load growth. That paradox – data centers as both the driver of load growth and a source of new demand to serve – creates a significant challenge for utility program teams. Simply having a platform isn’t enough to overcome those challenges. Utility leaders need a trusted partner to deliver results.
The gap between what programs are asked to deliver and what legacy systems can execute is not closing on its own. The question is not whether to modernize – it’s whether you move before the gap becomes a crisis.
Explore the full CLEAResult ATLAS™ suite to see how a modern platform can change your program’s outcomes.