The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) is an alliance of more than 140 utilities and energy efficiency organizations working on behalf of more than 13 million energy consumers to increase the adoption of energy-efficient products, services and practices. To do this, the alliance identifies and removes market barriers to energy efficiency to drive permanent change throughout the supply chain. This formalized, lasting approach is known as Market Transformation.
Over the last twenty five years, the alliance has developed a proven Market Transformation framework built on data, technical expertise, and reciprocal, long-lasting relationships with regional and national market actors and organizations. Since 1997, alliance Market Transformation activities have saved equivalent to enough electricity to power over half a million homes each year.
Market Transformation is a collaborative process. One that utilities, energy efficiency organizations, market partners and stakeholders each play a crucial role in.
Through the alliance, utilities and energy efficiency organizations join forces to pool resources; sharing the risks and costs to advance energy efficiency. In turn, these organizations and their customers directly benefit from the advancement of sustained energy-efficient market change. The alliance works at a regional and national level to influence the supply chain and increase the market’s ability to deliver energy efficiency while individual organizations work locally to stimulate customer demand. In this way, each organization remains focused on its customers and their unique needs, while simultaneously having a seat at the table with national and international market actors, government bodies and national energy efficiency organizations.
By pooling resources, individual organizations aren’t required to take on the risk—or the cost—of Market Transformation efforts alone and can spend resources only where and when they’re needed. These efforts result in permanent market change - often in the form of new energy codes and standards that continue to deliver energy savings long after the investment period.
Market Transformation targets specific market barriers to permanently change the purchasing decisions and priorities of consumers by influencing product development, stocking practices and decision-making throughout the supply chain.
NEEA scans the market to identify new energy efficiency opportunities. Promising technologies and approaches are vetted through NEEA’s testing and validation process—which may include lab and field testing or small-scale pilots—to ensure they save energy and meet the needs of customers.
The alliance conducts a variety of planned interventions that target various market actors throughout the supply chain to overcome known barriers. One example of a market intervention is the creation of product performance specifications that provide manufacturers with consistent guidance and requirements for developing energy-efficient products. They also send a signal to manufacturers that a market exists for these more efficient products, which helps to demonstrate the strong business case for efficiency.
NEEA’s market research plays an important role in identifying barriers and cost-effective opportunities to move the market toward greater efficiency. This research allows the alliance to develop targeted intervention strategies and to track and evaluate the impact of these activities. The alliance drives the market towards efficiency by partnering with technical experts to propose improvements to energy codes, equipment standards and test procedures. Simultaneously, the alliance provides training and education on best practices for meeting code and optimizing energy performance and savings to help the region adapt to these code changes.
Cultivating relationships with market partners enables the alliance to demonstrate the ways that energy-efficient products, services and practices can support their existing business models. By helping trade ally groups, retailer and distributor networks, and manufacturers remove barriers and seize opportunities, the alliance builds trusting relationships that drive mutually beneficial energy efficiency progress across regional and national markets.
Robust data sharing is often a key component of the alliance’s value exchange with market partners. Timely, granular sales data from market partners helps the alliance identify further gaps in the market and uncover cost-effective opportunities for future Market Transformation efforts. By identifying these gaps and opportunities, the alliance can refine program design with more targeted market barriers, develop corresponding interventions, identify opportunities for more stringent specifications, calibrate incentive levels, and further codes and standards.
Market Transformation is an ongoing process leveraging multiple strategies to build a foundation based on past efforts, knowledge gained, data acquisition and analysis, and consistent third-party evaluation. For twenty-five years, the alliance has honed and adapted this proven set of strategies and tactics to ensure a strong, cost-effective energy future for today’s consumers and future generations.
The alliance represents the market power of the Northwest’s 13 million consumers, working to build trust and credibility with regional and national entities. View NEEA's current bylaws, the Board Manual and 2020-2024 Budget by funding organization.
City of Albion
City of Bonners Ferry
City of Burley
City of Declo
City of Heyburn
City of Minidoka
City of Plummer
City of Rupert
City of Soda Springs
City of Weiser
Clearwater Power Company
East End Mutual Electric Company, LTD
Fall River Electric Cooperative
Farmers Electric Company, Ltd.
Idaho County Light and Power Cooperative Association, Inc.
Idaho Falls Power
Kootenai Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Lost River Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Northern Lights, Inc.
Raft River Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Riverside Electric Company, LTD
Salmon River Electric Cooperative, Inc.
South Side Electric Lines, Inc.
United Electric Co-op, Inc
Big Horn County Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Central Montana Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.
City of Troy
Flathead Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Glacier Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Lincoln Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Mission Valley Power
Missoula Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Ravalli County Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Southern Montana Electric G&T Cooperative, Inc.
Vigilante Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Western Montana Electric G&T Cooperative, Inc.
Wells Rural Electric Company
Blachly-Lane Electric Cooperative
Canby Utility Board
Central Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Central Lincoln People's Utility District
City of Ashland
City of Bandon
City of Cascade Locks
City of Drain
City of Forest Grove
City of Hermiston
City of Monmouth
Clatskanie People's Utility District
Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Columbia Power Cooperative Association
Columbia River People's Utility District
Consumers Power, Inc.
Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Cowlitz PUD
Douglas Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Emerald People's Utility District
EWEB
Harney Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Hood River Electric Cooperative
Lane Electric Cooperative, Inc.
McMinnville Water and Light Commission
Midstate Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Milton-Freewater Light & Power
Northern Wasco County People's Utility District
Oregon Trail Electric Consumers Cooperative, Inc.
Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative
Portland General Electric
Salem Electric
Springfield Utility Board
Tillamook County PUD No. 1
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
Umpqua Indian Utility Cooperative
Wasco Electric Cooperative
West Oregon Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Alder Mutual Light Co., Inc.
Asotin County PUD No. 1
Benton County PUD No. 1
Benton Rural Electric Association
Big Bend Electric Cooperative, Inc.
City of Blaine
City of Centralia
City of Cheney
City of Chewelah
City of Ellensburg
City of McCleary
City of Milton
City of Port Angeles
City of Sumas
Clallum County PUD No. 1
Columbia Rural Electric Association
Consolidated Irrigation District No. 19
Douglas County PUD No. 1
Elmhurst Mutual Power & Light Company
Energy Northwest
Ferry County PUC No. 1
Franklin County PUD No. 1
Grant County PUD No. 2
Grays Harbor County PUD No. 1
Inland Power and Light Company
Jefferson County PUD No. 1
Kittitas County PUD No. 1
Klickitat County PUD No. 1
Lakeview Light and Power
Lewis County PUD No. 1
Mason County PUD No. 1
Mason County PUD No. 3
Modern Electric Water Company
Nespelem Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Ohop Mutual Light Company
Okanogan County Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Okanogan County PUD No. 1
Orcas Power and Light Cooperative
Pacific County PUD No. 2
Parkland Light & Water Company
Pend Oreille County PUD No. 1
Peninsula Light Company
Richland, City of
Skamania County PUD No. 1
South Columbia Basin Irrigation District
Tanner Electric Cooperative
Town of Coulee Dam
Town of Eatonville
Town of Steilacoom
Vera Water and Power
Wahkiahum County PUD No. 1
Whatcom County PUD No. 1
Yakama Power
Surprise Valley Electrification Corporation
Sierra Pacific Power Company dba NV Energy
Wells Rural Electric Company
Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems
Lower Valley Energy, Inc.