The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) contracted with Apex Analytics to conduct the first Market Progress Evaluation Report (MPER) for NEEA’s Retail Product Portfolio (RPP) program, which operates as part of a larger, national program, the ENERGY STAR® Retail Products Platform (ESRPP). In January through July of 2021, Apex Analytics conducted document review, interviews with NEEA staff and staff from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and interviews with current and prospective ESRPP funders, to meet the following research objectives:
- Document the status of key market progress indicators (MPIs) for RPP;
- Understand the circumstances under which midstream incentives are most likely to affect retailer assortment for key products in the RPP portfolio;
- Document NEEA’s involvement in the national ESRPP program; and
- Propose a path forward for increasing the scale of the national ESRPP program.
Apex Analytics found that NEEA’s RPP program has made substantial progress on metrics related to program processes and procedures and has made initial progress on MPIs related to the program’s influence on the market. Apex Analytics also found that there are multiple benefits to increasing the scale of the program and made recommendations for how NEEA can continue to grow the program.
