Help My House Pilot Program Final Summary Report

The Help My House (HMH) pilot program provided on-bill financing (OBF) for energy efficiency retrofits in 125 homes across eight South Carolina electric cooperatives. The program demonstrated that 'whole house' upgrades—primarily attic insulation, air sealing, and HVAC replacements—could reduce electricity use by an average of 34% (approximately 11,000 kWh per year), with energy savings typically exceeding the annual loan repayments. The pilot achieved a 93% realization rate compared to predicted savings and significantly increased member satisfaction, leading several participating cooperatives to launch their own ongoing OBF programs. While the retrofits reduced coincident peak demand, they had no net impact on the system load factor, suggesting that the simultaneous deployment of load control devices is necessary to improve system efficiency.

• The pilot program successfully retrofitted 125 homes (53 site-built and 72 manufactured), exceeding the initial goal of 100 homes. The average loan amount per home was $7,684.
• Energy efficiency measures led to an average electricity use reduction of 34%, saving nearly 11,000 kWh per year. The actual performance showed a realization rate of 93% relative to predicted savings, which is considered a superior result.
• The program was financially viable for participants, with annual energy savings exceeding loan payments in more than 80% of the homes. The average participant saw a net annual savings of $288 during the loan term, with projected cumulative net savings of over $8,500 after 15 years.
• The most common and effective measures included air sealing (99% of homes), duct leakage reduction (98%), and attic insulation (91%). HVAC upgrades, including heat pump replacements, were also prevalent but had longer simple payback periods, averaging 8.6 years.
• The pilot significantly improved member satisfaction, with 70% of participants reporting they were more satisfied with their co-op one year after the retrofits. This is attributed to lower bills, increased home comfort, and the availability of 100% financing for low-income members.
• While the retrofits reduced coincident peak demand—by 27% during the summer peak and 46% during the winter peak—they had no net impact on the overall system load factor over the course of the year.
• The pilot's success led to the adoption of OBF programs by three of the eight participating cooperatives (Aiken Electric, Black River Electric, and Santee Electric), and sparked interest in two others (Lynches River and York Electric).
• The program reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 1,350 metric tons per year for the 125 homes. Scaling this to 200,000 homes could reduce emissions by about 2.4 million metric tons of CO2 annually.

APA

Keegan, P. (2013). Help My House Pilot Program Final Summary Report. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/files/HelpMyHouseFinalSummaryReport_June2013.pdf

Chicago

Keegan, Patrick. Help My House Pilot Program Final Summary Report. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2013. https://www.eesi.org/files/HelpMyHouseFinalSummaryReport_June2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Keegan |first1=Patrick |title=Help My House Pilot Program Final Summary Report |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=June 2013 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/HelpMyHouseFinalSummaryReport_June2013.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{keegan2013help, author = {Keegan, Patrick}, title = {{Help My House Pilot Program Final Summary Report}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2013}, month = jun, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/HelpMyHouseFinalSummaryReport_June2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }