As the electrical grid comes under increasing strain, utilities are looking for ways to get more out of their existing assets and increase customer affordability. Efficiency upgrades are an essential piece of the puzzle, but administering the incentive programs that drive these upgrades is often a significant operational hurdle.
The City of Palo Alto Utilities faced a challenge shared by many utilities: they had ambitious goals for their incentive program, but a small team to manage the complex administrative work to get funds out the door.
Rock Rabbit partnered with CPAU to streamline their operations, launch a modern, user-friendly rebate hub, and drive millions of dollars in new rebate discovery for their customers in just a few months.
The Challenge: High Friction, Small Team, Lots of Paperwork
Before partnering with Rock Rabbit, CPAU’s rebate program relied heavily on manual processes. Their prior system required significant staff intervention and lengthy back-and-forth emails with customers.
The manual nature of the system also meant the team lacked easy, quick visibility into program success. The data collected from manual applications was hard to aggregate, which made large scale analysis and tracking almost impossible. To scale their impact, CPAU needed a solution that could streamline the review process and provide real-time metrics to monitor program performance.
The Solution: A Turnkey, White-Labeled Rebate Hub
With support from an American Public Power Association (APPA) grant, CPAU and Rock Rabbit worked together to deploy a comprehensive, AI-powered solution.
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The solution focused on three core pillars:
- A Unified Customer Experience: Rock Rabbit deployed a white-labeled Rebate Hub that serves as a one-stop shop for program information. CPAU customers can now find the right incentives, request quotes from local installers, and submit streamlined applications in one place. In the contractor directory, installers can highlight their Google reviews, industry certifications and rebate program affiliations, including if they participate in CPAU’s instant discount contractor network.
- Streamlined Workflows: The turnkey solution included an admin portal that allows CPAU staff to easily review and approve applications. Rock Rabbit sends the relevant update notifications to customers automatically, making it easier for customers to manage next steps.
- Actionable Data: The platform aggregates project data, contractor activity, and rebate utilization to provide insights into market trends and customer behavior. These analytics enable CPAU staff to assess program performance and refine program design and outreach strategies to improve overall program effectiveness.
“Rock Rabbit has completely transformed our rebate program… It took under 12 weeks to launch our Rebate Hub, and our team now also have visibility into rebate analytics we never had before.”
– Christine Tam, Utility Program Services Manager
The Results: Immediate Impact and Affordability
Within just three months of launching the Rock Rabbit-powered Rebate Hub, CPAU was able to drive meaningful impact for their customers without requiring significant staff support. So far, the program has led to:
- $2.4M+ in CPAU rebates discovered by customers, plus $1M+ in stackable incentives
- $800k in rebates approved
- 3x increase in claims processed
- 450+ new active users engaged with the platform.
With Rock Rabbit, CPAU is making energy upgrades more affordable and accessible for their community.
