The State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program (SEEARP) was created under the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 and was funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA). The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved ARRA-funded SEEARP programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, as well as the American territories and protectorates. DOE required each grant recipient to submit its own program design, resulting in 56 different approaches.
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), as Illinois’ State Energy Office, served as the conduit for the DOE funding and provided additional state-level funding for SEEARP. DCEO engaged MEEA early on to design a program that would leverage existing resources, offer maximum benefit to both the public and participating companies, and allow for rapid and efficient deployment of funds.
Read about the success of Illinois SEEARP in the case study PDF below. When full data on SEEARP is released from DOE (early 2012 expected) we will provide further analysis and comparison of Illinois SEEARP with other SEEARP programs around the Midwest.
