Help My House Pilot Program Final Summary Report

The Help My House pilot program in South Carolina demonstrated that on-bill financing (OBF) can effectively drive residential energy efficiency, particularly for low-income households. Retrofits in 125 homes reduced average electricity use by 34% (approx. 11,000 kWh/year), with over 80% of participants seeing energy savings that exceeded their loan payments. The program significantly increased member satisfaction with electric cooperatives and led several cooperatives to establish permanent OBF programs. While the pilot showed minimal impact on system load factor, it highlighted the potential for OBF to defer expensive new generation investments and reduce CO2 emissions.

• The Help My House pilot program achieved significant energy reductions, with the average participating home cutting electricity use by 34 percent, which equates to nearly 11,000 kWh per year.
• The program was financially beneficial for the majority of participants; over 80 percent of homes saw annual energy savings that exceeded their loan payments. The average participant realized net annual savings of $288 after making loan payments.
• The pilot demonstrated a positive impact on member satisfaction, with more than 95 percent of participants reporting increased satisfaction with their electric cooperative as a result of the program.
• The retrofits led to substantial reductions in coincident peak demand, with savings of 27 percent during the June summer peak and 46 percent during the January winter peak.
• The program successfully reached low-income members who lacked access to traditional financing; the report notes that most participants would have been unable to afford the retrofits without the OBF model, which did not require credit checks.
• The pilot served as a catalyst for permanent OBF programs in the region. Three of the eight participating cooperatives (Aiken Electric, Black River Electric, and Santee Electric) launched ongoing OBF programs, and two others (Lynches River and York Electric) began moving toward implementation.
• From a utility business perspective, the report suggests that while energy efficiency reduces short-term revenue, the impact is minimal. A hypothetical scenario where 10 percent of homes participated over 10 years would require a rate increase of less than 1 percent to recover lost revenue.
• The program had a positive environmental impact, reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 1,350 metric tons per year across the 125 homes, averaging 10.8 metric tons per home.
• The most common energy efficiency measures installed were air sealing (99%), duct leakage reduction (98%), and attic insulation (91%), with an average loan amount of $7,684.

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} }