The City of Tallahassee prides itself as being a progressive city with a dedication to sustainability. Tallahassee is located in the Florida Panhandle next to the Georgia border.The city is both the state capital and home of Florida State University. The city government operates a municipal owned electric and gas utility, City of Tallahassee Utilities. The City of Tallahassee is showing that it practices what it preaches. As part of its commitment to a pro-sustainability policy, the City of Tallahassee Utilities is offering rebates of $2,000 for homes with a HERS® Index Score and are certified as ENERGY STAR. The goal of the energy efficiency program is to encourage the utility’s customers to use energy as efficiently as possible. The program offers a rebate of $1.00 per square foot for the purchase or construction of a HERS® rated ENERGY STAR certified home up to a maximum rebate of $2,000.00. The program requires that a certified RESNET HERS® Rater must produce a confirmed HERS® Index Score and that the home qualifies for the EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. In addition, the program requires mandatory training for participating builders, HVAC installers, and HERS® Raters. The City of Tallahassee’s natural gas utility has over 30,000 customers. The municipal electric utility is the 4th largest municipal electric utility in Florida and the 22nd largest in the United States. For more information, go to City of Tallahassee Utilities’ New Homes Program. The City of Tallahassee Utilities is joining the trend across the nation in which utilities rely on HERS® Index Scores for their new homes energy efficiency programs. According to the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, in 2017, 58% of utilities nationally that had new homes progams used the HERS® Index as their verification method. For more information go to Overview of Residential New Construction Programs in the United States and Canada.
