The cost of residential weatherization and efficiency services provided by the state’s two utilities is set to rise later this summer.
Customer co-payments for the ratepayer-subsidized, state-mandated Home Energy Solutions (HES) program – which provides air sealing, efficient lighting, low-flow shower heads and other conservation services – will increase from $99 to $124 on Sept. 1, according to the overseer of the state’s energy efficiency fund, the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Board (EEB), which oversees energy efficiency programs offered under the Energize Connecticut brand, including Home Energy Solutions.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection OK’d the increases in December as a condition of its approval of a three-year conservation and load management plan for utilities Eversource and Avangrid.
The co-payments help fund the program, but are a minority of its support. The  co-pay increase could help stretch out conservation and load management funds.
Utility providers Eversource and Avangrid have recorded 44,300 visits under the HES program since 2012, but demand fell in 2015 and is trending downward again so far this year. Energize said lower fuel prices and a warmer winter are to blame.
Meeting minutes and materials from several recent EEB meetings reveal concern that raising co-pays may lessen customer demand. The utilities had the option to request a deferral of the co-pay increase, but did not exercise that power, EEB said.
In December, DEEP approved a plan to open up the HES program to more contractors, in the hopes of increasing the number of residents who use the program.
HES, which launched a decade ago, is part of DEEP’s strategy to help the state meet its goal of weatherizing 80 percent of homes by 2030.
Program-related emissions reductions are projected to total 16,920 tons of carbon dioxide in 2016.
