Retail Product Portfolio: Market Progress Evaluation Report #3

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) contracted with Level 7 Market Research to conduct the third Market Progress Evaluation Report (MPER) for the Retail Product Portfolio (RPP) program. From July 2025 through February 2026, Level 7 conducted interviews with NEEA staff and contractors, reviewed program documentation, internal reports, communication records, and sales data, and conducted secondary research on federal standards and manufacturers agreements to assess progress on applicable market progress indicators (MPIs) for each product in the RPP portfolio, including room air conditioners, clothes washers, clothes dryers, refrigerators, and televisions. Level 7 also explored additional ways that the RPP program might consider evaluating its influence on manufacturers.

Findings indicate that RPP is influencing how retailers assort and promote energy-efficient products, especially clothes washers and clothes dryers, and that supporting the development of manufacturers’ agreements regarding product efficiency and the revision of federal efficiency standards has led to energy efficiency advancements in televisions, clothes dryers, clothes washers, and refrigerators. Level 7 recommended that NEEA continue to support refrigerator test procedure revisions and re-evaluate incentivization strategies for refrigerators and clothes washers. In addition, Level 7 recommended that NEEA consider adjusting its logic model and program strategy to explicitly describe its work with manufacturer voluntary agreements.