Common use of Income Eligible Program Design Clause in Contracts

Income Eligible Program Design. a. The Companies shall implement an approach to energy efficiency projects that incorporates comprehensive retrofit activity. A comprehensive retrofit is defined as an energy efficiency project that applies a whole building approach that touches multiple systems and components of an eligible utility customer’s residence or business facility, which may include incentives for heating, cooling, and/or the building envelope. Comprehensive retrofit projects focus on improving energy efficiency to result in lower whole-building energy use. The Companies agree to deliver all IQ whole-building programs jointly with ComEd, as referenced below in this Stipulation. b. The Companies agree to allocate approximately 90% of their dedicated IQ program budget to the whole building IQ single and multifamily programs. c. The Companies agree to support the full cost of air sealing and insulation upgrades, where applicable, in IQ multi-family buildings that have a payback of 20 years or less. d. The Companies will not fund early replacements, as defined in the TRM, of gas furnaces, gas boilers or gas water heaters in its utility-only whole- building IQ programs except in cases of emergency, health and safety needs, and/or are necessary to fully install building shell measures. It will, however, support those measures in the IHWAP braided program. e. The companies commit to develop and deploy a one-stop shop approach for IQ Multifamily program delivery. The Companies will, to the best of their ability, work together with the other Illinois utilities, and subject to agreement with the other applicable utilities in their service territories, to develop a comprehensive strategy consistent with the key features of the Energy Efficiency for All best practice design recommendations. f. The Companies commit that all measures offered through the IQ programs, whether those measures will be offered as part of a weatherization project or otherwise, shall be provided without co-pays to income eligible customers as the term “income eligible” is defined in the EE Policy Manual. g. The Companies commit to not actively market On-Bill Financing (OBF) to IQ customers, subject to any limitations of existing tariffs of the Companies. h. The Companies will support discussions at SAG about OBF. i. The Companies commit to providing a dedicated website or webpage describing all IQ EE opportunities and linkages to relevant portals or information, to be in place no later than 120 days after January 1, 2022. j. The Companies agree that they may target households less than or equal to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (“FPL”), but shall not restrict eligibility of services to just that population. IQ programs will be made available to all households at or below 80% Area Median Income (“AMI”) (recognizing that braided IHWAP programs would limit eligibility to no more than approximately 200% of FPL by law). Any targeting and establishment of eligibility for non-braided multifamily weatherization programs should be simple and not create barriers to participation, consistent with Section 4.3 of the Illinois Energy Efficiency Policy Manual Version 2.0 and its successor(s). k. For all IQ program offerings including direct installation of smart thermostats, the Companies agree to consider the following criteria before installing smart thermostats: i. The appropriate brand and type of thermostat based on the availability of broadband wi-fi in the home; ii. Customer interest after smart thermostat functionality has been explained; iii. Whether the customer is housebound; and iv. Technical issues that would significantly increase labor costs associated with thermostat installations. l. For all IQ program offerings including direct installation of smart thermostats, the Companies agree to provide the following information to customers receiving smart thermostats: i. Verbal and written operating instructions in English and Spanish; and ii. A phone number to call for assistance on the use of the product.