How is the baseline established?
The utility baseline may be established using one of two methods. One method is based on a Department of Energy model found at http://hes.lbl.gov/. The model considers 18 variables; including size, age, and construction of the home, type of heating/air conditioning system, water heaters and appliances as well as the settings used for those systems. The second method is based on an average home profile. The home profile takes these 5 variables into consideration, such as year built, square footage, number of stories, foundation type, and location of unit within a building for multi family units. During the mock billing phase the actual usage and baseline usage were compared and analyzed and the baselines were validated.
