Report:

With energy prices rising and the impact of our reliance on dirty energy sources clearly established, reducing our
energy use is as important as ever to save consumers money on their energy bills and reduce the carbon footprint. One
area that must be addressed is residential energy use, which makes up 17% of the energy consumption of the City of
Boulder.

Current initiatives by the City of Boulder and Xcel Energy to encourage reduced energy use in the residential
sector will not work with the majority of the 24,467 rental properties in Boulder because there is no financial incentive to
invest in energy efficiency. This lack of incentive, also known as the “split incentive”, occurs because most landlords do
not pay the energy bills of their rental units and thus will not recoup the benefit of energy efficiency upgrades in the form
of lower energy bills.

Tenants also do not have a financial incentive despite paying their energy bills because they do not own their residence and will not stay in the unit long enough to recoup any of their energy efficiency investments.

CoPIRG’s recommendations for correcting this broken market are as follows:

• Increase transparency by creating a program or certification system that identifies the efficiency and expected Total Cost of Occupancy (TCO)
• Ensure that all rental units participate in the energy efficiency certification and display their rating in a manner that potential renters can understand and compare
• Educate renters about simple energy efficiency upgrades or behavior that they can engage in to reduce energy use
• Educate landlords about energy efficiency upgrades they can implement that will make their property more valuable and attract renters
• Study ways to divide rental property energy bills so that renters and landlords pay their fair shares and determine
  if this is a cost effective means to encourage energy efficiency
• Connect landlords to current programs and service projects that can provide upgrades to their properties
• Encourage utilities and the government to continue to offer demand-side management (DSM) programs to help
  landlords improve the energy efficiency of their units