On February 27, 2008, CEE and the Institute of Public Utilities recorded a joint webinar on energy efficiency program evaluation entitled "Evaluation Methods for Achieving Diverse Energy-Efficiency Policy Objectives." This webinar provides an introduction to energy efficiency program evaluation for program administrators who are new to the subject and for regulators assessing the role of efficiency in modern utility energy portfolios.

The recording is in two parts. Click on the links below to download each part.

• Part 1 (1.75 hours)
• Part 2 (1.5 hours)

Workshop-related resources:

• CEE's Guide to the Evaluation Guides (a description and listing of resources for evaluation)
• A detailed description of Categories and Types of Evaluation
• Examples of logic models (example 1) (example 2)
• Workshop slides (visual only -- see above for audio-visual version)
• Written answers to questions submitted during and after the workshop (Q&A)

About the webinar:
Marian Brown, Ph.D., Southern California Edison, and Monica Nevius, Ph.D., CEE, co-instructed the webinar. They were joined by several CEE members with evaluation expertise who answered questions and provide examples and insights from their extensive experience managing, evaluating, and reporting on utility energy efficiency programs: Elizabeth Titus of Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Phil Degens of the Energy Trust of Oregon, Mike Sherman of the MA Division of Energy Resources, and Rob Russell and Anu Teja of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

Specific topics addressed in the webinar include:

• Overview of the roles, purposes, and types of evaluation
• Aligning evaluation requirements with policy objectives, and matching evaluation strategies with program decision-making needs
• Key issues and methods in program evaluation, including:
  • Program theory and attribution
  • Appropriate methods for estimating energy savings under different circumstances
  • Gross and net energy savings
  • Free riders and spillover effects
• Estimating the effects of market transformation, education, marketing, and behavioral change approaches
  • Assessing program design and operation
  • Getting reliable data; making wise trade-offs between evaluation costs and precision
  • Keeping pace with expanded efficiency program objectives
  • Cost-effectiveness measurement approaches

About CEE's evaluation program:
The purpose of this program is to help CEE and its members use their resources more efficiently in the pursuit of energy efficiency and measurement of program outcomes. This includes providing support for CEE members' evaluation and research efforts via information sharing, providing a forum for sharing issues and working jointly on research and other evaluation-related matters, monitoring and keeping members abreast of efficiency industry developments, and conducting and disseminating relevant research to help advance our members' evaluation capabilities and the field of energy efficiency evaluation. Some of our work products include a searchable Clearinghouse of evaluation and related research reports, an annual survey of household awareness of the ENERGY STAR label, and an annual energy efficiency industry overview detailing current-year budgets of ratepayer-funded efficiency programs in the U.S. and Canada and estimated savings from CEE members' programs in the prior year. For more information, go to CEE's Evaluation homepage.

About the instructors:

Marian V. Brown has worked in energy program evaluation and analysis since 1986 and has been chair of the California Measurement Advisory Council (CALMAC) and predecessor regulator/utility/public member organizations since 1990. She is past president of the Association of Energy Services Professionals and has been a Board member of this organization since 1994. She received the Association's third Life Member award in 2004. Dr. Brown has worked for Southern California Edison (SCE) since 1986, and has been Manager of energy efficiency evaluation and market analysis since 1989. She is SCE's evaluation witness in California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) proceedings, is Co-developer of the Measurement & Evaluation Protocols adopted by the CPUC, and was Project manager for the California Evaluation Framework (2004). Dr. Brown received a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University in 1979 and has served as a Visiting Scholar, Assistant Professor, and a Sr. Research Analyst in a number of organizations.

Monica J. Nevius has worked in energy program evaluation and analysis since 1998. She is Senior Program Manager of Research and Evaluation for the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE), a nonprofit organization of administrators of publicly funded energy efficiency programs in North America. Dr. Nevius leads CEE's Evaluation Committee, which is comprised of senior evaluators from administrators of publicly funded energy efficiency programs in the U.S. and Canada, addressing evaluation issues of broad concern and planning and organizing collaborative or jointly-sponsored research and evaluation efforts. Dr. Nevius oversees all of CEE's research efforts, including the annual collection and analysis of data on energy efficiency program budgets and impacts in North America, and CEE's annual survey of household awareness of the ENERGY STAR label. She is the author or co-author of numerous reports and publications, including multiple peer-reviewed papers in the conference proceedings of the International Energy Program Evaluation Conference and the ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings. Prior to joining CEE, Dr. Nevius worked at the Energy Center of Wisconsin. Dr. Nevius obtained her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from the University of Wisconsin, where her research focused on behavioral aspects of residential energy consumption, political prospects for energy consumption taxation, and environmental sociology.