Get answers to your common program questions

The program budget for both prescriptive and custom incentives is approximately $16 million, which is based on achieving approximately 161 million kWh. This incentive budget is a significant increase over last year’s budget of $7 million and 63 million kWh. However, funding for the second program year has now been paid or reserved. See waitlist FAQs for details.

Changes in incentive levels for Program Year 2 fall in two categories: 1) adjustments or elimination of incentives for existing Program Year 1 measures, and 2) incentives for measures that were not included in Year 1. See the tables below for these changes:

Changes in Incentives

* Note for the T5/T8 Fixture: In Program Year 2, this fixture will have a cap of $100/fixture.

New Measures

Standard screw-in CFLs (up to 26w) are not eligible for Program Year 2 incentives. Larger or specialized CFLs may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Be sure to contact the ComEd Smart Ideas team at (888) 806-2273 to discuss your options.

CFLs were removed from the prescriptive program this year and we encourage our customers to consider making a more permanent change by purchasing cold cathode lamps, hardwired CFLs, or LED fixtures. If you cannot purchase fixtures now there are still a few options for purchasing CFLs through ComEd’s  online store at www.energyfederation.org/smartideas/default.php.

We have a wide variety of energy saving products available including discounted CFLs. You also can  purchase up to 12 discounted CFLs at various retailers including do-it-yourself, hardware, grocery and discount retailers. Just be sure to look for the Smart Ideas logo.

ComEd’s Smart Ideas program covers projects that involve retrofits and major renovations. A new construction incentive offering, which started June 1, 2009, provides tools, information and incentives to the design and construction community to incorporate high-efficiency measures into their building designs. Incentives for new construction are administered separately from incentives for retrofits. If you have a new construction project, contact ComEd’s Smart Ideas team to discuss your project. They can be reached at:

ComEd Smart Ideas for Your Business – New Construction Services
455 Science Drive, Suite 200
Madison, WI  53711
Call: (888) 806-2273
Fax: (608) 238-0523
E-mail: ComEdSmartIdeas@ecw.org

The ComEd Smart Ideas team is in the process of contacting customer applicants to determine their interest in moving their waitlisted projects into Program Year 2. Customers whose projects have not yet started, and who wish to move their projects into Year 2, will be able to obtain reservation letters for Year 2, in some cases without providing another application.

If this is the case with your project, you may be asked to update your application or provide additional information about the project after June 1, 2009, when Year 2 application forms are available. If you have a project that was on the Year 1 wait list and you conducted the work in Year 1, you should contact the ComEd  Smart Ideas team as soon as possible. We have additional funds available to process incentives for some completed projects at this time.

Terms and Conditions for Program Year 2 state that any project with a final completion date before June 1, 2009, is not eligible for Year 2 incentives.

In general, you will not be eligible for an incentive. However, if you contracted and started work after April 1, 2009, and performed work that did not require a pre-inspection, you may be able to receive Year 2 funds. For an official determination, you should contact the ComEd  Smart Ideas team as soon as possible.

All decisions to acquire and install energy efficiency measures that are eligible for Program Year 2 incentives, and do not require pre-approval, must be made after April 1, 2009. Applicants must submit documentation to demonstrate these decision dates, such as dated invoices for the purchase and installation of the measures. Documentation indicating contract dates prior to April 1, 2009, may render the application ineligible.