HELPING UTILITIES AND CUSTOMERS QUANTIFY THE BENEFITS OF GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMPS
GHPs installations have been making strong gains as a viable alternative heating and cooling system, both in the United States and around the world. Although this technology has been in existence since the 1940s, it still has not realized its full market potential. To help promote GHP installations, the Western Area Power Administration (Western), the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the American Public Power Association (APPA) commissioned a report featuring the “Best Practices” used by 12 utilities and 17 trade allies to promote GHPs. This paper summarizes the ways in which these utilities have blended marketing, financing, and infrastructure support to increase GHP installations in their service areas. The last section of this paper displays two very simple calculators. These tools were developed to assist utility program planners estimate the value of GHP installations from both the customer and utility perspectives. These calculators, which leverage existing materials, provide a quick way that utilities can determine if the benefits of promoting a GHP program outweigh the costs associated with lost revenues and program administration.