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Utility programs, delivered at checkout

Build the virtual power plant at checkout. That's where the yes is.

Demand response pre-enrollment means the customer joins your program while buying the device, in the same checkout: eligibility checked against your records, the incentive applied, the device pre-enrolled before it ships.

Talk to us about DR See how enrollment works

Documented by the U.S. Department of Energy as a high-impact action for VPP enrollment. Read the report (PDF, pp. 22 and 63)

Homeowner setting up a newly installed smart thermostat in a hallway

Demand response pre-enrollment at a glance

What it does for you

  • Enrolls the device in your program as it's bought: one opt-in at checkout, enrolled before it ships.
  • Applies the DR incentive in the same checkout, stacked on any efficiency rebate.
  • Recovers the incentive if a device never comes online. Enervee runs the recovery.

The evidence

  • 95%of smart thermostat buyers pre-enroll at checkout, against DOE's 60%+ benchmarkA large Northwest utility, 1 July – 1 September 2026
  • 78%of pre-enrolled buyers go on to an installed, connected deviceSame program, every order since March 2025
  • 97%pre-enrolled across roughly 40,000 thermostats on an earlier marketplace Enervee ranDocumented in DOE's VPP Liftoff report (2025), pp. 22 and 63

How it runs Enervee is your program implementer for demand response enrollment at purchase, on a platform we own and operate. We handle validation, submission, status tracking and recovery; your DR provider runs device management and events.

See the full evidence

The problem

DR eligibility checks that don't slow the checkout

Enrollment at purchase is easy to offer. Whether it works depends on what your eligibility checks ask of the customer mid-checkout.

Without verification, the program inherits enrollments it cannot honor: rejected claims, reconciliations, and customers told yes and later told no. Verification added as extra steps, such as an account-number prompt or a slow lookup, loses customers at the step where they would have enrolled.

Validation runs against your dataset in real time while the customer moves through the flow. Per-order and per-account caps apply without being announced. The customer sees a rule only when it disqualifies them, with the reason, at that step. A customer who qualifies is never asked to prove eligibility.

Where you cannot support a real-time interface, validation runs against a periodic eligibility file matched on the fields you can supply. Some configurations need no account number, so the customer is not sent off to find one. Business rules are configured per Incentive Request Form and enforced by rebate type, so demand response and efficiency rules apply independently on the same order.

Demand response enrollmentStep 3 of 4
  • Account matched to your records automatically. Nothing for the customer to look up or type.
  • Heating type eligible — checked silently, because this program requires it.
  • Second of two devices permitted this program year. A third is declined here, with the reason — the only point at which the customer sees a rule at all.
DR pre-enrollment rebate applied−$85.00
Continue

Three rules enforced. One opt-in for the customer, and no fields added to the checkout. Illustrative — rules, caps and required fields are configured per program.

How it works

How point-of-sale demand response enrollment works

A customer choosing a compatible thermostat opts into your program in the same flow, and the DR incentive applies immediately as an instant rebate, stacked on any efficiency rebate on the same product. The customer sees one net price; the two incentives are claimed separately, from separate budgets.

The efficiency incentive is earned on the purchase. The DR incentive is earned on pre-enrollment, before the device is connected. That is what creates the activation obligation, and the recovery behind it.

  1. 01Customer

    Opt in at checkout

    A dedicated DR step carries your program terms, with explicit opt-in. Only opt-ins receive the rebate.

  2. 02Fulfillment

    Serial captured at fulfillment

    Reported on the shipment update. The customer is never asked to find it or type it.

  3. 03Enervee

    Validated and deduplicated

    Checked against a per-model format rule and against existing enrollments, so no malformed serial reaches your provider.

  4. 04Enervee

    Submitted to your provider

    The enrollment policy routes it to the right provider, program and device platform.

  5. 05Enervee

    Status polled back

    Stored with its full change history and the provider’s raw response.

Because each enrollment is tied to a specific, verified device, the claim is defensible in an evaluation and any later charge to the customer is fair.

Evidence

Pre-enrollment results: 95% of smart thermostat buyers, against a 60% benchmark

DOE's Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Virtual Power Plants (2025 Update) identifies point-of-purchase enrollment as a high-impact lever and cites 60% or more as the demonstrated benchmark for it. The same report names Enervee as the marketplace provider behind one of its case studies.

Checkout → Pre-enrolled
95%
60% benchmark

of smart thermostat buyers pre-enroll in the demand response program during checkout.

Up from 65% after the pre-enrollment incentive rose from $25 to $125 on 1 July 2026. A large Northwest utility, measured 1 July – 1 September 2026.

Checkout → Installed & connected
78%

of those who pre-enrolled at checkout go on to complete enrollment — the device installed and connected to the utility's demand response platform.

Same program, across every order since it launched in March 2025.

The two rates cover different windows, so they describe two stages rather than one cohort — no combined figure is implied. The documented case sits alongside them: an earlier thermostat program, named in DOE's VPP Liftoff report (pp. 22 and 63) and in Public Utilities Fortnightly, January 2022, pre-enrolled at 97% across roughly 40,000 thermostats on a marketplace Enervee built and operated.

Beyond thermostats

Beyond smart thermostats: EV chargers and heat pump water heaters

Thermostats alone may not reach your peak target. Households will keep buying and enrolling thermostats for years, so volume is not the constraint. A thermostat fleet can shift only so much load, and peak targets keep moving.

  • Pre-enrollment live
    100 Instant rebate

    Smart thermostat

    Wi-Fi connected

    Four manufacturers in production, configured per SKU.

  • Transacting today
    100 Instant rebate

    EV charger

    Level 2, Wi-Fi connected

    Instant rebates at checkout. Pre-enrollment when your provider supports the device.

  • Transacting today
    94 Instant rebate

    Heat pump water heater

    Electric, tank

    Instant rebates at checkout. Pre-enrollment when your provider supports the device.

Activation & recovery

What happens when a pre-enrolled device never comes online

The incentive is paid at purchase, before the device is connected. If the device never comes online, Enervee recovers the incentive, and no one is charged without three reminders first.

  1. At checkout

    Incentive applied. The activation requirement is stated in the terms the customer opts into.

  2. Reminder one

    Prompts installation and connection.

  3. Reminder two

    Carries the time remaining and the amount at risk.

  4. Reminder three

    Counts down to the charge date.

  5. Recovery, or not

    If the device came online, nothing happens. If it did not, the card is charged and a final message explains why.

The sequence follows the device's status as your DR provider's platform (DERMS) reports it. A customer who activates stops hearing from us, and a device that is online but not yet enrolled is messaged differently from one with a failed enrollment.

Recovered funds are credited back to your DR rebate fund, with chargeback fees netted against it. Your program controls recovery: you approve any suspension of it, and we have paused it for specific device cohorts at a utility's direction. Customers who return the product, or who charge back, become eligible again.

You are not left paying incentive dollars for a device that never comes online, and Enervee runs the recovery.

Before any charge, four checks.

  • A valid DR benefit on the order
  • A serial matching the shipment record
  • An original payment that succeeded
  • No existing recovery for that order and device

Scope & integration

Supported smart thermostats and DERMS integration

Pre-enrollment is live for smart thermostats from four manufacturers. Other devices can be pre-enrolled once your DERMS provider supports them.

Smart thermostats · in production
  • Google Nest
  • ecobee
  • Sensi
  • Honeywell Home

Questions

Demand response pre-enrollment: what program teams ask

More questions program teams ask →

What is demand response pre-enrollment?

Enrolling a device in a demand response program at the moment it is bought, rather than asking the customer to sign up after installation. Consent, eligibility and the device identity are captured in the checkout, so the enrollment belongs to the device that ships.

What enrollment rates does point-of-sale demand response achieve?

The U.S. Department of Energy's 2025 VPP Liftoff update reports 60% and above for point-of-sale enrollment and records a 97% opt-in on an Enervee-run marketplace.

What happens if the customer never installs the thermostat?

The activation requirement is stated at checkout, then the customer is reminded three times across the activation window, with the time remaining and the amount at risk. The reminders stop as soon as the device comes online. If it never does, the card used at purchase is charged for the DR incentive applied to that order, and a final message explains the charge. The recovered amount is credited back to your DR rebate fund, with any chargeback fees netted against it. You are not left paying an incentive for a device that never joins the fleet, and you do not run the recovery.

How do you know the enrollment belongs to the device the customer actually bought?

The serial number is captured by the fulfillment partner and reported on the shipment update — the customer is never asked to find it. It is validated against a per-model format rule and checked against existing enrollments before submission, so no device is enrolled twice and no malformed serial reaches your provider. Every enrollment is stored with its status, its full change history and the provider's raw response, so the claim can be defended in an evaluation.

Does this lock us into a particular DERMS provider?

No. Provider, program code and device platform are configured per SKU, per utility. One marketplace can run more than one provider at the same time, and adding a provider is an integration rather than a redesign. We read every device status the provider reports, not just an "activated" flag, so customer messaging and recovery decisions stay accurate whichever provider you use.

How are efficiency and demand response incentives reported and claimed separately?

They are separate line items with separate identifiers from the point of sale onward, each mapped to your measure identifier — so spend, volume and cost per acquisition track independently even though the customer saw a single net price. Pre-enrollment volume is reported net of returns and cancellations. Fund reporting is monthly — processed, returned, remaining — with notification at 50% and shutdown at 25%.

Instant rebates & Fast Track™ →

Which devices can be pre-enrolled today?

Smart thermostats from Google Nest, ecobee, Sensi and Honeywell Home. Enrollment is configured per SKU rather than per brand, so you can include or exclude specific models to match your approved product list or your provider's supported device list. Other devices can be pre-enrolled once your DERMS provider supports them. EV chargers and water heaters already transact on Enervee marketplaces with instant rebates.

Bring demand response into the purchase.

Tell us your program rules and your DERMS provider, and we will show you what pre-enrollment looks like in your marketplace.

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