Energy savings due to the BPA residential weatherization pilot program two years after participation

The Bonneville Power Administration operated a Residential Weatherization Pilot Program from 1980 through 1982. The program provided free home energy audits to 7200 electrically heated homes in the Pacific Northwest and gave zero-interest loans to weatherize 4100 of these homes. The total cost of the program was almost $11 million. This report describes several methods used to estimate the net energy-saving effect of the BPA program (i.e., the electricity saving that could be directly attributed to the program). The data used in this analysis include one year of preprogram and two years of postprogram electricity consumption records. The simplest method involves estimation of weather adjusted annual electricity consumption for each household. The second approach uses this weather adjusted consumption as the dependent variable in a pooled time-series/cross-section regression model of electricity use. The third approach involves estimation of qualitative choice models of the decisions to retrofit and to participate in the BPA program. The fourth (final) method involves estimation of difference models, using the difference in weather-adjusted consumption from year 1 to either year 2 or year 3 as the dependent variable.