When I was a kid, maybe in junior high, we were assigned a project to describe, step by step, how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After moment of, “huh,” I understood the task and purpose of the assignment. There isn’t enough of this type of assignment in efficiency programs or business today. On many occasions in recent years, I’ve had to explain how the utility business works, how we handle aspects of our business, or how a program process works. When the receiving end is fully invested in understanding these things as well as they can, both…
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If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing now. That quasi-cliché is why I have never had a New Year’s resolution, and I’m not going to start in 2021, but I can review the past and forecast (guess) the future. Soothsaying is part of my job, and I’m at least as accurate as next week’s weather forecast. At the start of 2020, we had just reorganized, defined who we are, what we do, and why we do it. Sounds simple, right? What is your personal purpose? What do you value? What makes you tick? Keeping it concise is very hard. Our…
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This week, we are continuing the discussion from last week’s Pay 4 Performance Sequel post. There is a sequel to the sequel? Last week’s sequel referenced the first attempts at P4P programs, which were delivered around the turn of the century in response to the utility deregulation craze. This post takes us a few steps further. More Issues to Slay This post describes why the Energy Service Company (ESCO) model failed and the differences between Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and modern-day program implementation contractors. Early P4P programs were designed for ESCOs, while today’s are targeted for implementers. The differences pose…
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