Programs and Projects Archive

Residents in the Southeast face historically high rates of poverty, and low-income families often live in homes that are inefficient, uncomfortable, and, in many cases, unhealthy for occupants. Despite TVA’s low residential energy rates ranking in the top quartile nationally, disproportionately high electricity usage represents an even greater burden to low-income families who spend a greater proportion of their resources on electricity. This page contains resources on the Home UpLift program and how it addresses energy affordability for low-income families.

In 2011, a group of stakeholders representing several State, federal, and nongovernmental entities created the Tennessee Water and Wastewater Energy Efficiency Partnership. This group provided no-cost technical assistance for water and wastewater facilities to identify operational strategies that could reduce energy consumption (and, often, nutrient discharge) and result in energy cost savings. OEP led the Partnership from 2016 to 2018 and continues to work with participating wastewater systems to collect energy efficiency data.

The previous administration’s EmPower initiative aimed to reduce energy consumption and costs for State-owned and managed facilities through the implementation of energy efficiency projects and energy management systems. 

From 2014-2016, OEP and Clean Energy Solutions, Inc. provided education, outreach, and technical assistance to local governments, K-12 schools, and public housing authorities in Tennessee to drive demand for energy improvement investments. During the program’s period of performance, the project team provided education, outreach, and technical assistance to over 346 entities and drove demand for energy improvement investments of over $48 million in Tennessee.

In March 2014, TDEC provided a grant to the City of Bristol to design, develop, and deliver the Energy Efficiency Assistance Program, which provided qualifying low-to-moderate-income homeowners with a free in-home energy evaluation, a customized implementation plan by the local utility, and up to $20,000 per home in financial assistance to install recommended energy efficiency upgrades. The program’s period of performance ended in June 2016.

QECBs are low-interest federal bonds (via subsidy) that were available for issuance for qualified energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy conservation capital projects. Under Tennessee statute, OEP was tasked with serving as the coordinator and administrator of the State’s QECB program in partnership with the Tennessee Local Development Authority. Learn more about the previously issued QECB projects here.

From 2016-2017, OEP worked with state energy offices across the U.S. to develop a framework for an energy efficiency registry, in cooperation with The Climate Registry, the National Association of State Energy Officials, and supporting organizations E4TheFuture and APX. The project had several goals: (1) provide a tool for compliance with federal and/or state emissions regulations and energy objectives; (2) ease the administrative costs and reporting burden of assessing energy efficiency program benefits; and (3) enhance the transparency of energy savings ownership and attribution.