Evaluation

Tierra employs innovative evaluation methods and tools to measure resource savings, gather customer insights, and adjust future delivery strategies based on research findings. 

Impact Evaluation

The growth of DSM programs from innovative pilots into reliable, dependable, and impactful energy resources relies on thoughtful, accurate, and creative approaches to measure their energy, demand, and carbon reductions.  Tierra employs engineering- and econometric-based impact evaluation methods to quantify the magnitude of DSM program impacts and characterize their variation by season, time of day, climate, customer segment, and other factors that influence the program growth and optimization. We calibrate our analyses using utility Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and end-use performance data, and incorporate customer segmentation and census tract data, to provide a wholistic view of your program’s performance. This multi-method approach provides reliable, time-differentiated estimates of program performance to support regulatory compliance, resource planning, load forecasting, and program planning needs. For questions about our Impact Evaluation approach contact Mike Yim or Dave Alspector. 

Process Evaluation & Customer Experience

First and foremost, DSM programs must equitably serve and benefit all customers. Tierra helps our clients to thoroughly understand and optimize their DSM program by examining the multiple phases of a program implementation including segmentation, marketing, enrollment, fulfillment, issue resolution, and project completion. Productive and high-performing programs rely on effective business processes and tools, well-honed marketing collateral, user-friendly websites and applications, clear customer communications and engagement, trusted implementer and trade ally relationships, appropriate incentives, and timely rebate processing. Tierra employs a multi-modal approach that can include surveys, in-depth interviews, focus groups, behavioral studies, contractor ride-alongs, project inspections, and user-interface testing to provide robust process evaluation and customer experience research. Our embedded approach integrates these activities into program implementation to provide timely insights that result in actionable findings and recommendations for our clients that are uniquely adapted to their specific research objectives and regulatory compliance considerations. For questions about our Process Evaluation & Customer Experience approach contact Matthew Joyce or Mike Yim.

Applied Data Analytics

As the energy industry continues to evolve with new technologies that can offer innovative solutions to traditional resource adequacy problems, so has the accompanying breadth, depth, and granularity of primary/secondary data sources. We have observed marked advancements in utility AMI technology deployment strategies, along with the corresponding enhancements to utility data system storage capacities, capabilities, accessibility channels, and security standards within existing utility data systems. We recognize the unique value of these new datasets, as well as their ability to inform research and performance priorities for our clients. Our team leverages the academic foundations and professional insights procured through numerous projects that continue to hone our application of data science and engineering principles.

Similarly, our experience has broadened our team’s access to, and combination of, new data sets, and informed our development of visually intuitive / actionable findings to successfully meet the resource allocation and optimization needs of our customers. For questions about our data intelligence processes, contact Mike Yim or Greg Brown.

Recent Tierra Evaluation Projects