FAQ’s
We understand that several characteristics of the Efficiency as a Service model might raise questions, find here a compile of our most frequently asked questions. Should you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.
The owner of the equipment is either the technology provider, or the finance provider, depending on the financial structure.
Both models offer common benefits to the user, namely, no up-front investment for the end-user and the systems are optimised to maximise efficiency. However, some of their features are fundamentally different; the major of which is how energy savings are treated.
EaaS does not tie payments to energy savings. Payments are agreed in advance as a function of actual usage, including operating cost such as electricity. The customer thus has a clear guarantee that he will not be paying more per unit of energy efficiency service than agreed, even if the consumption of electricity is higher than expected.
Energy Performance Contracts (EPC) payments on the other hand are dependent on energy savings. There are two major forms of EPC models: 1) the shared savings model in which the customer does not invest but instead pays a share of the energy cost savings to the project developer; 2) The guaranteed savings model in which the customer invests but is guaranteed that a certain amount of energy savings will be met.
EPCs, in particular shared savings EPCs, can make it hard to create long-term strategic partnerships between the Energy Savings Companies (ESCOs) and their customers because a periodical negotiation is required to determine the payment based on savings measurements. In this sense, the pricing structure of EaaS is highly transparent and enables such strategic partnerships.