Market Research and Momentum Savings

BPA’s Market Research and associated Momentum Savings efforts are a foundational part of BPA’s total resource portfolio, allowing BPA to quantify and acquire the total energy conservation resource necessary to meet its needs. By providing valuable insights on how much energy conservation is happening in different markets and how these markets are changing over time, this research allows regional programs to maximize their impact and helps the region plan for future generation and capacity needs.

Since 2009, BPA has performed market research to quantify Momentum Savings (formerly “non-programmatic savings”), which are defined as all the energy efficiency occurring above the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Power Plan baseline that are not directly reported by utilities or the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. Momentum Savings result when an end-user chooses an efficient equipment option without receiving a financial incentive directly from a utility. Many factors may drive such choices, including the “momentum” generated by past and current efficiency programs, corporate sustainability policies, and technology trends.

BPA researches select markets including non-residential lighting, residential and commercial HVAC, non-residential adjustable speed drives, and federal appliance standards. Historically, BPA has also researched residential lighting, agricultural irrigation, data centers, and residential hot water.

BPA uses a consistent analytical framework for any market we study. We perform rigorous market research and data collection to build market models that track changes over time in energy consumption, sales trends, stock turnover, energy savings, product baselines, and other market trends. To ensure robust and accurate results, BPA goes through a rigorous external review process with an expert panel composed of independent industry experts and regional stakeholders that shape our methods and thoroughly vet the results.