1. Program Description

Transcription

1 Program Name: Save on Energy - Instant Discount Program 1. Program Description The Save on Energy - Instant Discount Program (the ID Program ) encourages households to reduce their energy use by offering residential consumers a price reduction on certain energy efficient products purchased at either retail locations or through online purchases. Retailers with retail stores located in Ontario may apply to become a Participating Retailer, which will allow them to offer discounts on certain energy efficient products purchased in the retail stores by individual consumers during promotional events. Participating Retailers may also apply to offer the discounted products through their e-commerce platform. Participating Retailers will only be eligible for the online portion of the ID Program if they meet certain additional requirements, including (but not limited to) ensuring that the products are shipped to consumers at an Ontario address. The ID Program is offered under, and is subject to the terms of, the Energy Conservation Agreement. The ID Program is a province-wide program and savings will be allocated to individual LDCs through the Provincial Allocation Methodology. All capitalized terms not defined in these ID Program Rules have the definitions given to them in the Energy Conservation Agreement between the LDC and the Independent Electricity System Operator (the IESO ). These ID Program Rules will take effect on October 1 st Program Offer / Participant Incentives 2.1 Standard (Provincially-Consistent) Incentives Instant Discounts may be offered to individual consumers by Participating Retailers in connection with Bi-Annual Retailer Events, with Instant Discounts being available during a period of up to one (1) month for each event in the relevant year. Dates for each event shall be communicated by the IESO to both LDCs and Participating Retailers no less than two (2) months in advance of the start of each event. All consumers purchasing eligible products during the Bi-Annual Retailer Events at a participating retail store or online will instantly receive the relevant Instant Discount. The offering of any particular Retailer Event is subject to the sole discretion of the IESO. Should the IESO choose not to proceed with a Retailer Event, it will communicate such decision to the Participating Retailers no less than 60 days in advance of the planned event. Page 1 of 9

2 Table 1 summarizes the discounts that will be offered on various products by way of Instant Discount. The below product list is subject to IESO amendment from time to time and at the sole discretion of the IESO. Table 1. ID Program Qualified Product List Measure Category Product Product Additional Requirements Discounts ENERGY STAR certified Specialty LEDs Specialty LEDs (Flood/Reflector) Specialty LEDs (Globe) Specialty LEDs (Candle) Decorative (B, CA, BA, F, P, G), Reflector(R), Parabolic Aluminized Reflector (PAR), Multifaceted Reflector (MR); connected lamps; ST19 lamps $2 per lamp ENERGY STAR certified General Purpose LEDs A-Lamps General Purpose Lighting N/A $1 per lamp ENERGY STAR certified Light Fixtures ENERGY STAR certified light fixtures (indoor hard wired) Hard Wired (per socket) $8/fixture ENERGY STAR certified ceiling fans Indoor, hardwired; fans may be those with or without light sockets; must be ENERGY STAR certified N/A $8/fixture Lighting Control Products Indoor motion sensors (hard wired) Dimmer switches (hard wired) Hard-wired Indoor Motion Sensor Hard-Wired Dimmer $4 per sensor or timer Indoor timers (hard wired) Hard-Wired Indoor Timers Weatherstripping Weatherstripping (foam or V-strip packages) Does not include window sealing kits (shrink wrap) $1.50 Page 2 of 9

3 Measure Category Product Product Additional Requirements Discounts Weatherstripping (door frame kits) $2 Electric Water Heater Blanket Insulation blankets for electric water heaters For electric water heaters only $3 Heavy Duty Plug In Timers Heavy-duty outdoor timers Spa pump, car block heater, pool pump timer All heavy duty outdoor plug in timers (Holiday and Outdoor Lighting) $4 N/A $3 Advanced Powerbars Power bars with integrated timer Power bars with autoshutoff Must have integrated timer (smart power bar) Must have integrated autoshutoff $3 Clotheslines Outdoor clothesline umbrella stands or clothesline kits Outdoor units only; must be complete kits and not replacement parts $8 Baseboard Programmable Thermostats Programmable Thermostats for electric baseboard heaters For electric baseboards $10 per thermostat Hot Water Pipe Wrap Per 3 Pipe Wrap (3/4 Pipe) N/A $3 2.2 Total ID Program Budget Cap A budget cap will be implemented for the ID Program on a province-wide basis. The budget cap will mitigate the risk of oversubscription to the ID Program. The IESO will engage a Value Added Service Provider who will contact retailers to identify their interest in participating in the ID Program and outline the criteria by which applications will be evaluated. These criteria will be developed by the Value Added Service Provider and reviewed and approved by the IESO. Retailers interested in participating in the ID Program will be required to submit an application to the Value Added Service Provider. Applications will require Page 3 of 9

4 retailers to provide, among other items, sales forecasts, marketing plans, number of expected participating locations and ability to comply with the minimum terms of the Retailer Participation Agreement. Applications will be evaluated by the Value Added Service Provider and the IESO to ensure, among other criteria, that the total sales forecasts would not result in exceeding the province-wide ID Program budget cap. Retailer Participation Agreements will be offered to the highest scoring retailers. Following each Bi-Annual Retailer Event, the IESO will provide a report to the LDCs indicating actual spending against the province-wide budget cap and advise if sufficient funding remains to enable future Retailer Events. If there are insufficient funds available to support future Retailer Events, the ID Program and the Participating Retailer Agreements may be terminated by providing 60 days notification in advance. After the initial Q to Q period, the budget cap may be adjusted on an annual basis. If the provincial budget cap is exceeded during the duration of any Retailer Event, any cost overruns will be recovered through the CDM budgets of participating LDCs in accordance with the Provincial Allocation Methodology. The IESO will not be liable to Participating Retailers who ordered extra stock based on sales expectations. The form of the Retailer Participant Agreements will be developed by the Value Added Service Provider and reviewed and approved by the IESO prior to being entered into by the Value Added Service Provider and Participating Retailers. 2.3 Exceptions 3. Program Eligibility Criteria 3.1 Participant Eligibility Consumers at retail stores of a Participating Retailer located in Ontario will be eligible for the Instant Discount for up to ten (10) Eligible Product Units per Measure Category per checkout during a Retailer Event. Similarly, any consumer in the e-commerce platform of a Participating Retailer will be eligible for the Instant Discount for products shipped to an Ontario address for up to ten (10) Eligible Product Units per Measure Category per shipment per day during a Retailer Event. 3.2 Retailer Eligibility Retailers interested in participating in the ID Program will be required, on an annual basis to submit an application to the Value Added Service Provider. Applications will require retailers to provide, among other items, sales forecasts, marketing plans, number of expected participation locations and ability to comply with the minimum terms of the Retailer Participation Agreement. Page 4 of 9

5 Applications will be evaluated by the Value Added Service Provider and the IESO, resulting in Retailer Participation Agreements being offered to highest scoring retailers and limited to the budget cap. Retailers must confirm their ability to execute on minimum in-store merchandizing requirements and meet minimum data requirements such as specified intervals of pre-event, monthly event, and post-event Point of Sale (POS) data in order to be eligible to enter into a Retailer Participation Agreement. The timing of these data submissions will also be prescribed. Participating Retailers also wishing to participate in the ID Program through their e-commerce platform will be subject to additional requirements such as confirming their ability to limit purchases to customers with an Ontario shipping address in order to be eligible. The specific data requirements will form part of the Participant Agreements that will be reviewed and approved by the IESO. A Retailer becomes a Participating Retailer under the ID Program upon signing a Retailer Participation Agreement with the Value-Added Service Provider. A minimum of 60% of retail locations of Participating Retailers and 100% of the e-commerce platforms used will receive merchandizing compliance visits from the Value Added Service Provider during each Bi-Annual Retailer Event. Retailers will be assigned a score based on their ability to comply with the minimum merchandizing requirements. Higher scoring compliant Retailers will receive first priority for participation in future events. Non-compliant Retailers may be terminated from participating in future Bi-Annual Retailer Events, at the sole discretion of the IESO. All Retailer Participation Agreements will include a 60 day Termination for Convenience clause. 3.3 Facility Eligibility 3.4 Project and Measures Eligibility Product eligibility will rely on a third-party certified or Qualified Product List (QPL). The main QPL for lighting products is ENERGY STAR. Prior to participating in a Bi-Annual Retailer Event, and following the signing of a Retailer Participation Agreement, Participating Retailers must provide product model numbers along with their respective SKUs to the Value Added Service Provider for potential inclusion in the ID Program. The Value Added Service Provider will confirm SKU eligibility and discount amounts in accordance with the Program Qualified Product List in Table Eligible Costs 4. Participant Agreements There is no participation agreement with individual consumers. Page 5 of 9

6 Retailer Participation Agreements are to be developed and managed by the Value Added Service Provider, subject to approval by the IESO. Participating Retailers who are approved to also offer the discounted products through their e-commerce platform will be subject to additional requirements in relation to the products sold online. Retailer Participation Agreements will include (but are not limited to) provisions detailing: 1. Ability for Participating Retailers to be reimbursed for discounts provided to individual consumers for in-store purchases of eligible products located in Ontario. 2. Ability for Participating Retailers who have satisfied certain additional eligibility criteria related to online sales to be reimbursed for discounts provided to online consumers for eligible products sold online and shipped within Ontario. 3. A limit on the number of discounted products that can be purchased at the cash registry or online checkout to ten (10) Eligible Product Units per Measure Category.. 4. Time limitation of the availability of the Bi-Annual Retailer Events. 5. Process and procedures including: a) submission of product equipment stock-keeping units (SKUs) for approval in the Qualified Product List; b) invoicing and settlement process; c) timing requirements of data submissions; and d) data required to be submitted with each invoice for quality assurance and quality control purposes as well as program-level evaluation, measurement and verification (EM&V) purposes. 6. Availability of retailer sales staff for training. 7. Guidelines and IESO requirements surrounding in-store displays, in-store events and promotion (ie. minimum merchandizing and branding requirements). 8. Requirements for Participating Retailers to print and display point of purchase marketing materials according to certain guidelines. 9. Ability for Participating Retailers to use creative materials that will be provided by the IESO in electronic format that they will be required to use in print or use in an e- commerce platform. 10. Acknowledgement from the Participating Retailer regarding public disclosure of its participation in the ID Program as well as certain information disclosure to LDCs of retailer involvement. Page 6 of 9

7 11. In-store verification procedures and online verification procedures that may be implemented by the IESO or its representative to ensure compliance with the terms of the Retailer Participation Agreement. 12. Termination provisions for non-compliance as well as a 60 day notice of termination for convenience provision. 13. Maintenance of information requirements. 14. Compliance and dispute resolution procedures. 15. Expected collaboration from Participating Retailers for program planning purposes. This may include recommendations for any adjustments to the incentive level due to changing market conditions, information to assist the IESO in establishing an incentive budget for the next year and information for EM&V purposes (for example, information to facilitate the evaluations of the market lift and/or assessing program attribution). Note that any input always remains subject to IESO approval. 16. Confirmation that none of the LDC, the IESO or the Value Added Service Provider shall be liable for any defective products and/or damage caused by the Discounted Products. 5. QA/QC and Project M&V Minimum Requirements 6. Minimum Record-Keeping Requirements 7. Other The IESO will: (a) (b) (c) make available to the LDC a list of the Participating Retailers and participating locations and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) of the participating e- commerce platforms, as updated from time to time; enter into and manage Value Added Service Provider agreements for the delivery of Retail Specialist and Fulfillment services; respond to consumer inquiries and complaints regarding the ID Program. The IESO s Value Added Service Provider will: (a) develop the Retailer application and evaluation matrix, score each retailer s application providing recommendations to IESO for contracting and enter into a Page 7 of 9

8 Retailer Participation Agreement with Participating Retailers to honour Instant Discounts; (b) (c) (d) reimburse Participating Retailers for Instant Discounts provided on eligible products to customers during the Bi-Annual Retailer Events; respond to consumer inquiries and complaints regarding the ID Program; and conduct compliance checks on Participating Retailers, track Participating Retailer compliance scores and provide recommendations to IESO for future events. 8. Program Specific Definitions The following terms have the meaning stated below when used in these ID Program Rules: Bi-Annual Retailer Events means the up to 4-week period that occur twice a year during which the Discounts are offered by Participating Retailers. Discounted Product means a product listed on the Qualified Products List under the heading Discounted Products. ENERGY STAR means the international ENERGY STAR symbol rating as promoted and monitored by Natural Resources Canada s Office of Energy Efficiency. Eligible Product Units refers to the measure count of all incentive-eligible items contained within an eligible product and its associated SKU. For certainty, incentives are applied to each Eligible Product Unit; up to a maximum of 10 incentives per measure category per transaction. Instant Discount means, in respect of the ID Program, the incentive amount to be received by a consumer and applied as a price reduction to certain products, as such amounts are set out in the Qualified Products List in Table 1, as amended from time to time. "Measure Category" refers to the Measure categories listed in Table 1. Participating Retailer means a retailer that has satisfied the retailer eligibility requirements to offer Discounted Products and has entered into a Retailer Participation Agreement. Provincial Allocation Methodology means the allocation methodology used to attribute provincial participation to individual LDCs. The allocated values are used to attribute participation, savings and costs. The methodology is derived based on the LDC percentage of the residential portion of CDM Target. Qualified Product List (QPL) means a list published by the IESO setting out eligible Discounted Products, and as amended by the IESO from time to time. Page 8 of 9

9 Retailer Participation Agreement means the agreement entered into between a Participating Retailer and the Value Added Service Provider, detailing their respective roles in the ID Program. Stock-Keeping Unit (SKU) is a code identifying one specific product sold by a retailer. Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a reference (an address) to a resource on the Internet. Value Added Service Provider means the competitively procured fulfillment and retail specialist vendor supporting the delivery of the ID Program. 9. Pay-for-Performance The pay-for-performance rate for the ID Program is $0. Page 9 of 9