Earth Day, April 22^nd - May 5^th

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently made available $300 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for state run rebate programs for consumer purchases of new ENERGY STAR qualified home appliances.  From that pool of funding, the Commonwealth has received approximately $6.2 million.  RAM has worked recently to assist the MA Division of Energy Resources (DOER) in their plans for the program here in MA, and is happy to report that the MA plan has been approved by the federal government and is set to launch on Earth Day, April 22, 2010. 

The goal of the Mass Save Great Appliance Exchange is to stimulate the retail sector by providing mail-in rebate incentives to replace existing home appliances with more energy efficient models.  The program will target high efficiency clothes washers, refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers with rebates from $50 to $250, with a projected target goal of replacing almost 27,000 appliances.

All of the information about the program will be posted at:

http://www.masssave.com/GAX

Once a retailer has been pre-qualified for participation in the Exchange, the store will be included on a list of qualified retailers that will be posted on this site. The list will be available to consumers starting on March 22, 2010, along with a list of eligible products.

For retailers looking to participate and pre-qualify:

Link below to download a “Retailer Kit” and “Retailer Certification Form.”  The Kit contains all of the information needed by MA Appliance Retailers for them to participate in the Mass Save Great Appliance Exchange, including:

•           General information about the Exchange

•           Rules and Regulations for participation

•           Product eligibility and rebate amounts

•           How to “pre-qualify”

•           Information about the Reservation system and Rebate Applications/Submittal

•           Key Milestones

•           Contact Information

•           Checklist to help the retailers and their customers

•           Frequently Asked Questions

The Certification Form needs to be completed ONCE for each retailer; that is, if a retailer has multiple storefronts throughout the state, they need to only sign the form once to cover all their stores (must be signed by a person with appropriate authority). Retailers with multiple stores should also provide a list of their stores/addresses in MA so they’re properly listed on the website.

·        Retailer Kit