NEEA utilized a variety of outreach mechanisms to solicit and gather input from the region. These mechanisms included a web survey, regional in-person workshops, one-on-one meetings, and presentations at regional organizations. The findings documented in this report reflect regional input from in-person meetings at 58 organizations, nearly 200 participants at seven regional workshops, and 114 completed online surveys.
NEEA sought feedback in four general areas:
- Trends and challenges facing the stakeholder organization
- Future vision for energy efficiency in the Northwest, and the obstacles to and opportunities for achieving that vision
- NEEA’s role and perceived value
- Specific issues, including whether NEEA should adopt a fuel-blind mission, NEEA’s portfolio balance, and the importance of regional equity and customer class equity.
Some of the key trends include:
- Increasing energy demand and mounting supply constraints
- Workforce shortages
- Economic, environmental and legislative uncertainties
- Changing Technology
We also listened for suggested roles that NEEA could play in this changing environment.
Notable among the suggested roles for NEEA were:
- Developing comprehensive market strategies that will help the region work in concert to transform markets
- Developing and maintaining relationships with upstream, regional, and national market actors
- Identifying and facilitating the market availability of emerging energy efficiency technologies
- Facilitating energy efficiency training and education
- Disseminating information on best practices
- Conducting regional research; and helping to improve the stringency of energy efficiency codes and standards
There was broad regional support for a broader NEEA mission that takes a fuel-blind approach to energy efficiency and is better aligned with the customer perspective. The region vary in their opinions regarding NEEA’s portfolio of projects, but they do agree that its work on long-term market transformation projects is important. For several funders, continued funding will depend on a regionally balanced portfolio that delivers some level of cost-effective energy savings.
We have posted the full executive summary and will be launching an online forum shortly to continue to have an open dialogue regarding our strategic planning process.