NYSERDA Improves Program Performance with Real-Time Data

^[1] The views expressed in this case study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Challenge

Long Evaluation Timelines

NYSERDA faced a fundamental mismatch between program evolution speed and traditional evaluation cycles. Comfort Home needed to scale quickly to meet ambitious electrification targets, but standard retrospective evaluations require a year or more to complete. This timeline gap left program managers operating without crucial performance data at key decision points.

Incentive Misallocation Risk

The program offered three retrofit packages at different incentive levels. Without rapid feedback on which packages generated the highest savings, NYSERDA risked misallocating incentive dollars. Early performance signals would enable reallocation to get more impact per dollar.

Slow Data Access

Accessing utility consumption data quickly enough to support agile program management presented technical challenges. NYSERDA needed automated data collection processes that could handle multiple utilities across New York state, while maintaining participant privacy and data security.

Solution

NYSERDA partnered with Recurve to build a near real-time analysis framework running parallel to their formal retrospective evaluation. The solution leveraged New York’s Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system and Recurve’s FLEX platform to shorten analysis cycles from months to weeks.

Automated Data Pipeline

The program team collected utility account numbers and participant authorizations during application. NYSERDA’s evaluation team submitted monthly EDI requests to automatically receive consumption data for authorized participants. Recurve developed a standardized Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process that combined project tracking data with utility consumption data and formatted everything for rapid analysis.

Up-to-date Analysis

Every one to two months, the system ingested new project completions and updated consumption data. Recurve’s ETL automation enabled consistent turnaround without sacrificing quality. Program staff received updated results reflecting the most recent project performance, creating a continuous feedback loop.

Dynamic Performance Dashboard

Results populated Recurve’s FLEX platform with dynamic filtering capabilities. Program and evaluation teams could instantly segment results by contractor, geography, package type, and date ranges. Project-level drilldowns enabled investigation of performance patterns and anomalies. This accessibility transformed data from static reports into an active management tool.

Results

Validated Program Performance

Near real-time results aligned closely with the forthcoming retrospective evaluation. Both analyses identified the same high-performing packages and similar savings patterns. This alignment validated early program design choices and built confidence in using rapid analysis for decision support.

Right-Sized Incentives

The analysis revealed that the highest-incentive package did not generate proportionally higher savings. This insight informed incentive reallocation decisions across packages. Program staff combined savings data with project volumes and incentive burn rates.

Proactive Research Insights

Early analysis flagged areas needing deeper investigation. Program savings models showed higher variability for low-usage households, prompting the retrospective evaluation team to investigate root causes. By surfacing these questions early, the near real-time work helped design a more focused formal evaluation.

Accelerated Funding Success

Credible early results strengthened applications for additional program funding. The ability to demonstrate verified performance within months of project completion provided evidence of program effectiveness during key funding cycles. This accelerated validation supported program scaling and expansion.

This project demonstrated that near real-time analysis serves as a powerful complement to formal evaluation. By enabling early insight into program performance within weeks of project completion, it helped inform more strategic decisions, improve programs, and support NYSERDA’s broader role in advancing energy efficiency across the state. Success required strong data management from program staff and ongoing collaboration between program and evaluation teams working together from the outset.

Read the full research paper presented at the 2025 International Energy Program Evaluation Conference.