2021 Business Lighting program requirements and incentives


On February 10, Energy Trust will launch Business Lighting incentive offers and requirements for 2021. These incentives are based on a smaller than typical budget following unusually high demand for bonus incentives in 2020. Many of these 2020 bonus projects will complete and receive incentives in early 2021, resulting in a smaller than typical lighting incentive budget for 2021.

This update contains information about:

  • 2021 standard business lighting incentives and program requirements
  • Network enrollment changes and trade ally annual caps
  • Trade ally network updates
  • Program updates
  • Next steps

First some important dates:

  • January 28, 2021—Required program training webinar for enrolled trade allies
  • February 10, 2021—2021 Business Lighting program launch
  • February 10, 2021—Updated lighting tool is available for download at www.insider.energytrust.org/lighting
  • February 28, 2021—Last day to submit documentation for completed 2020 bonus incentive projects

2021 Business Lighting Summary
Energy Trust is adjusting standard and custom lighting incentives downward in 2021 to reflect the available budget. This also helps us spread out budget more effectively to enable it to last longer. In addition to updated incentive levels, 2021 incentive requirements will include:

  • Lower incentives on standard and custom measures
  • Cap on incentives in the lighting tool: $6,000/project
  • Cap on total lighting incentives by participant: $6,000/year
  • Additional incentives per project are available, up to 10% over the 120L amount, provided there are incentive funds available and provided it does not exceed the participant cap of $6,000/year.
  • Cap on total lighting incentives per trade ally company (PGE): $250,000/year
  • Cap on total lighting incentives per trade ally company (Pacific Power): $75,000/year
  • Limit on number of active projects per trade ally company (PGE): 10
  • Limit on number of active projects per trade ally company (Pacific Power): 5
  • Incentive application deadline: application must be signed by participant and returned by the deadline listed, which will be calculated at 30 days from application issuance.
  • Incentive reservation period: must be completed (installed and invoices and final lighting tool submitted) before the incentive reservation expiration date, which will be calculated at 120 days from application issuance.

2021 Business Lighting Standard Incentive Details
On February 10, the website will be updated to include the 2021 lighting incentives. These are also the incentives that are built into the new version of the lighting tool, also available on February 10. Please be sure to delete all previous versions of the lighting tool from your systems. Energy Trust will not accept any projects submitted using an outdated tool.

To view 2021 incentive amounts, please visit www.insider.energytrust.org/2021-business-lighting-standard-incentives.

New enrollment requirements and project/incentive caps for trade allies
There are important changes in 2021 for trade allies beginning on February 10, 2021, including:

  • Contractors must be enrolled as an Energy Trust Business Lighting trade ally in our Trade Ally Network to offer Energy Trust incentives to their customers for qualifying lighting projects. Previously, Energy Trust allowed lighting contractors outside of the network to submit projects if those projects qualified for incentives.
  • Each enrolled trade ally company will have an annual cap on the amount of incentives it can submit on behalf of their customers. This cap is for the corporate company, not individual locations. These caps vary by utility:
    • For projects at participant sites served by Portland General Electric, the cap is $250,000 for the year
    • For projects at participant sites served by Pacific Power, the cap is $75,000 per year.
  • To manage the flow of projects and help Energy Trust better proactively manage projects to the available incentive budget, there will be a limit on how many active projects an enrolled trade ally can have at one time. For program purposes, an “active” project is a project with an approved incentive application. This cap is also for the trade ally company, not individual locations, and varies by utility:
    • For projects at participant sites served by PGE the active project cap is 10
    • For projects at participant sites served by Pacific Power the active project cap is 5

Once a trade ally reaches the active project cap, they need to wait until an active project completes (or is abandoned) before submitting another. All other project caps apply.

  • Incentives paid will not exceed reservation amounts unless expressly approved by Energy Trust in writing.
  • Until further notice, Energy Trust will not accept incentive applications directly from customers for self-installed lighting projects. All projects must be submitted through an enrolled Trade Ally. Energy Trust is developing a process to work with public K-12 schools and other public entities that have their own facilities staff. Energy Trust is evaluating the impacts of these projects on the available budget. If a distributor in the trade ally network has a self-install project pending, they should email Energy Trust at lighting@energytrust.org or call 1.800.326.2917.
  • Custom grow lighting incentives will be subject to the project caps and program eligibility requirements listed above.

Energy Trust program requirements, including incentives, are subject to funding availability and may change.

What’s next?

  • To learn more, attend the 2021 Business Lighting Program Trade Ally Training on Thursday, January 28 at 9 a.m.
    During this required webinar training for enrolled trade allies, we will cover the new program design, incentives and eligibility requirements. The webinar will be recorded so you can share it with your team.You received an email invite on Thursday, January 21. You must register in advance for this webinar training. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing webinar log-in information.Registration link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMocu2vqTovHdaQgwIQ6hjNnj0LQQIABGhv. Questions? Send them by noon, January 27, 2021. We want to answer as many of your questions at the webinar as we can. Please email your questions to lighting@energytrust.org by noon on January 27.
  • For existing enrolled trade allies
    As a result of these program changes, Energy Trust is updating the Lighting Trade Ally addendum form. This will be emailed to trade allies who attend the training webinar, but a signature is not required. Enrollment in the Trade Ally Network will be complete when the trade ally returns the signed documentation.