RealWinWin: Helping Businesses Find Energy Efficiency Incentives
With oil and natural gas prices up more than 130 percent since 1999 — and escalating demand straining electricity supplies — corporate America is experiencing rapid increases in energy costs. The irony is that each year, utilities and other agencies set aside billions of dollars in incentives to help curb demand and save companies money. Like scholarships for higher education, however, many who deserve these subsidies don’t take the time to find and collect them.
“One of our clients calls it the biggest game of hide-the-peanut out there,” says Mark Jewell, president of RealWinWin, Inc. (RWW), a Philadelphia-based energy rebate administrator and demand reduction service. “Even highly sophisticated companies can find it challenging to get their fair share of this money.”
That’s where RWW comes in — helping companies find and receive rebates for energy efficiency in both new and existing buildings. In fact, for many clients, they play an important role in the planning stages of new construction projects to literally build in the savings.
RWW began its foray into the rebate and incentive market by creating a comprehensive database of all energy-related rebates and incentives offered by the nation’s utilities. Next, they sold subscription-only access to the database. But RWW soon found that the data by itself was not enough.
Offering a Turnkey Solution
“One of our large prospects said the database was nice, but his people just didn’t have the time or expertise to manage it,” Jewell says. “That’s when the bells went off. We needed to offer a turnkey solution and become the go-to company for rebate administration.”
Within months, RWW developed its Rebate Administration service and began locating and capturing money for businesses that were implementing energy-efficiency improvements. “Utility demand reduction initiatives are difficult to pursue,” Jewell says. “Monopolistic utilities are typically poor marketers, and the system they’ve designed is highly complex, confusing and fragmented.”
Indeed, Jewell’s decision to shift from subscriptions to custom solutions is paying off. RWW clients represent more than 680 million square feet and include dozens of household names, such as JC Penney, Pier One and Starwood Hotels. RWW’s typical customers are large chains that are building or renovating multiple stores with larger footprints.
Capturing Incentives for Clients
“One of our marquee clients, a national chain, undertakes about 700 energy-related capital projects each year with minimal internal rebate effort,” Jewell says. “In a little over two years we’ve been able to capture over $1 million in incentives for them.”
Ben Franklin invested $250,000 in RWW in the fall of 2005. The funding is being used to automate several internal databases and processes, allowing project managers to aggregate data on pending and completed rebate applications with ease.
“Say a client has 30 projects pending, and they want an aggregated status report,” Jewell says. “Before, we were essentially cutting and pasting reports together using Excel. With BFTP’s funding, we’re developing a system that will provide customized reports on a monthly basis. This saves staff time, delivers greater customer service and increases our credibility.”
BFTP Opens Doors, Offers Advice
Jewell also credits BFTP with opening doors to potential partnerships and providing valuable business advice. In fact, Alan Kraus, senior director of BFTP’s Investment Group, is an observer on RWW’s board. “Alan brings a fresh perspective,” Jewell says. “He was quick to point out that we needed to do a better job telling our story. This helped us focus our energies on our public relations efforts, which included redesigning our website to emphasize our latest offerings.”
At its core, RWW is about saving clients energy dollars — especially during the crucial planning stages, when rebates and incentives are most relevant. “When we work with rapidly expanding retailers, we begin by examining how they build a typical store — HVAC, windows, roofing, etc. — and asking how this design could be improved to lower operating expenses and increase rebate eligibility,” says Jewell.
Many Technologies Qualify for Rebates
Jewell says that many technologies qualify for rebates, including high-efficiency HVAC units, motors, drives, lighting and controls, renewable energy systems and more. “Vendors are constantly approaching us to let us know about their newest technologies. Many of them need help getting those offerings in front of utilities so that they can become eligible for rebates,” he says.
Recently, RWW came full circle when a large utility asked the company to help market its rebate programs. “They have rebate money that they need to dispense to lower demand,” Jewell says. “They know we can get businesses to take advantage of these rebates. With our help, they accomplish more demand reduction per rebate dollar invested.”
Jewell believes there is a $300 million opportunity in annual fees for RWW. “We put utilities, end users and vendors together to save money and take energy demand off the grid,” says Jewell. “The need for that kind of service will only increase.”
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