2024 was a banner year for ICAST’s premier demand-side management (DSM) utility program, the Wattsmart multifamily program. This program, administered in partnership with Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), has paved the way for energy efficiency in multifamily housing in Utah since 2018.
This program provides cash rebates for energy-efficient upgrades to create a situation where everybody wins: property owners can attract and retain tenants with lowered utility bills and upgraded premises (while also increasing property values); tenants enjoy lower utility bills and more comfortable, weatherized homes; and RMP lowers the peak demand on their grid and is thus able to ensure grid resiliency while keeping energy prices low in the long term.
In 2018, the program had a goal of 5,000,000 kWh savings and a budget cap of 1,725,000. ICAST has repeatedly exceeded expectations and has steadily grown year over year. Today, the program is 500% larger than in 2018: In 2024, the program had a goal of 25,000,000 kWh savings and a budget cap of nearly $10M. ICAST exceeded its yearly goal by nearly 15%, reaching a whopping 27,518,133 kWh savings last year while coming in just under the budget cap.
ICAST has long spearheaded the adoption of very-high-efficiency heat pumps in the US, and this mission fits perfectly within a DSM program as heat pumps can be three times more efficient than resistance electric heating for both space heating/cooling and domestic hot water. In 2024 alone, ICAST installed 6,032 heat pumps as part of the Wattsmart program, representing 17,721,323 kWh savings from the 25M and over $6M of the nearly $10M budget.
RMP’s multifamily Wattsmart program is exemplary of the deep savings available through utility programs that are both scalable and replicable; both ICAST and RMP expect the program to grow only bigger over the coming years. This program is nationally recognized and award-winning, recently receiving the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy’s Leader of the Pack award, and has made award-winning projects such as Safe Haven possible.
Because Wattsmart is built with scalability and replicability, ICAST firmly believes that such impactful DSM programs are possible everywhere in the US. To help speed the adoption of similar programs nationwide, ICAST publishes resource guides such as this one to disseminate its findings and lessons learned while also attending conferences and webinars to help educate other utility stakeholders on the deep impact of multifamily DSM.
At ICAST, we’re excited about the possibilities that 2025 will bring and the opportunity to grow the Wattsmart multifamily program further, serving even more of the multifamily sector in Utah than last year.