By making the smart choice to install a heat pump water heater to get hot water, you’ll save $3,100 or more on your new equipment when you work with a TECH Clean California contractor. To receive this TECH Clean California incentive, you’re required to enroll in a demand response program. The state of California, which is providing this incentive funding, is requiring this to help ensure that customers with new electric appliances can reduce their energy consumption during certain times of the year when the grid is constrained. Here is what you need to know about the demand response program requirements for receiving these incentives.
A demand response program encourages participants to make slight shifts to when they use energy to help reduce the demand for energy during “peak” hours (typically in the evenings or during extremely hot days). As more Californians switch from fossil fuel to electric appliances, it’s even more important to manage the supply of electricity in the most effective way. When you participate in a demand response program, you agree to shift some of your energy use to off-peak times. For some programs, daily “peak” times can be in the evening hours when demand for electricity is highest. Other programs may have “peak” times only during certain days of the year, during the hours when electricity demand is especially high, and close to exceeding the available supply of electricity. This happens when wildfires, floods, hot summer days, other extreme weather events, or unexpected system maintenance/outages strain the electric system.
Many demand response programs don’t require that you connect your appliances or smart devices to the program. These programs work by sending you notifications about peak events, and then you manually make adjustments to your energy use. Typically, you are notified the day before and/or the day of an event so you can plan to make adjustments to your energy use, like pre-cooling your home during off-peak hours, or putting off running the dishwasher or doing laundry. The notifications will be sent via email, text, or a smartphone app. Other demand response programs can connect directly to your smart device such as your water heater, thermostat, or home or business energy management system. The program communicates automatically with the equipment, so you don’t have to do anything to respond. But even if your appliances are connected, you always have the option to adjust your own appliances during an event.
Demand response enrollment is required for anyone who receives their electricity from PG&E, SMUD, SCE, or SDG&E. Please review your options in the tables below and enroll in a program to meet your TECH heat pump water heater requirement for earning incentives. Rewards for participation vary from program to program, so review the program options carefully and choose what works best for you.
You may already be enrolled in a demand response program that meets the enrollment requirement but is no longer open to new enrollments and as such is not listed in the table below. These programs include but are not limited to PG&E Smart AC, SDG&E AC Saver, and SMUD Peak Corps.
(1) Open to central Orange County residents and businesses (large parts of Cities in: Irvine, Tustin, Santa Ana and Newport Beach, as well as all or parts of the cities of Aliso Viejo, Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest and Mission Viejo). Must be located on a circuit interconnected with Santiago or Johanna High Voltage Substation.
This table was last updated on 1/18/2024.
(1) Open to central Orange County residents and businesses (large parts of Cities in: Irvine, Tustin, Santa Ana and Newport Beach, as well as all or parts of the cities of Aliso Viejo, Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest, and Mission Viejo). Must be located on a circuit interconnected with Santiago or Johanna High Voltage Substation.
This table was last updated on 1/18/2024.