Energy efficiency rebate processing that checks every invoice line against the rules — and counts only the savings that qualify
Rebates checked against the rules and paid fast.
See one case, screen by screen ↓A rebate application for a heat pump water heater, an air conditioner, attic insulation or a showerhead arrives with the contractor's invoice, model and serial numbers, spec sheets, an AHRI certificate and photos. A rebate processor checks the customer is on service, the install date is inside the programme year and the submission window, and the trade ally is participating and licensed. Then every model is looked up on the qualified product list, every rating against the programme threshold, every amount against the cap, and every deemed saving against the technical reference manual. Two models that differ by one character can be a variable-speed unit on the list and a single-stage unit that is not.
Done by hand, applications wait in the queue and customers are told to allow 6–8 weeks. Two checks are the hardest to do by hand: whether the same serial or the same address was already paid in another programme, and whether the list the model was matched against was the one in force on the install date. Published audits of utility rebate programmes have found duplicate payments and payments without proof of a licensed contractor — and savings claimed for a line that never qualified are removed by the evaluator, sometimes after the rebate has been paid.
Estimated split for one complete residential application, in calendar days, by hand and with the solution. The 4-day total is the design target, measured in the live solution.
Six agents read, match, check and calculate every invoice line; the processor decides and the programme manager signs the batch.
Harbourline Heating & Air replaced Dana Whitfield's air conditioner and water heater at 14 Alder Crescent, Fernhill, insulated the attic, sealed the ducts and fitted two showerheads. On Fri 9 Oct 2026 it submitted application HC-26-04817 to Lumina Home Comfort 2026 on the trade-ally portal, with the rebate assigned to the contractor. Here is Tuesday 13 Oct, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Renée opens HC-26-04817, 1 of 42 ready to decide. Invoice HHA-11382 is on the left, $15,445.87 in total, 8 lines. $2,340 is claimed on 6 measures. Each claimed line will be checked four ways: the model on the qualified list in force on the install date, the rating against the programme threshold, no earlier payment in any Lumina programme, and the required documents, rule and cap.
“Nothing from this application is counted until its lines are matched.”
Renée presses Match every line. Line 1, a Corvane CXA4-36A1 3-ton air conditioner, is not on the list. The listed model is the CXA4-36V1, variable speed at SEER2 17.5; the A1 is single-stage at SEER2 15.2, below the 16.0 the programme pays. The differing character is highlighted inside the model number on the invoice, and the rebate drops from $2,340 to $1,740.
Never treats a near match as qualified — and never uses a listing newer than the install date to pass a line.
Opening line 1 shows its three sources: invoice HHA-11382 line 1 at $7,840.00; AHRI certificate 214406821, outdoor unit CXA4-36A1, single-stage, SEER2 15.2; and the ENERGY STAR listing of 28 Sep 2026, with no entry for the A1 and the V1 listed since 3 Mar 2025. The rule is measure CAC-16: $600, listed and SEER2 16.0 or more. The 412 kWh deemed saving is not counted.
Ask to override or keep excluded — an override needs Tomas Okafor and a reason.
Harbourline installed a customer-supplied Nestwell T3, serial NW3-8812-40571. The same serial got a $75 instant rebate when Dana bought it on Lumina Marketplace, order LM-552190, on 14 Aug 2026. The pair sits on the Claimed twice screen with the serial that links them; the $75 is excluded here, and the 310 kWh stay counted once, under Marketplace.
“A pair is never paid twice; a person decides which claim stands.”
The heat pump water heater is listed at UEF 3.88 against a 3.30 threshold: $750 and 2,410 kWh a year. The insulation reached R-49 on 1,150 sq ft: $575 and 667 kWh. The duct sealing has no test-out report, so its $300 is held. The showerheads are capped at half their $68 cost: $34 and 5,800 gallons a year. Labour and the permit are not measures. Verified savings move from 11,618,940 to 11,622,017 kWh.
“This application adds +3,077 kWh a year and 5,800 gallons — only lines that qualify count.”
The draft to Gil Marchetti at Harbourline says what was approved, asks for the duct test-out report showing leakage of 6 CFM25 or less per 100 sq ft, signed by the technician, and explains the two lines that cannot be paid — naming the listed CXA4-36V1. It asks for the report by 27 Oct 2026, and Dana gets a copy in plain words. Renée sends it the same morning.
Drafted by the deficiency writer — sent only when the processor presses Send.
Renée approves $1,359 to Harbourline Heating & Air by ACH. It is within her $5,000 limit per application, so she approves it alone. The application joins Tuesday's batch B-26-41, which grows to 149 applications and $212,819. The $300 stays held until the duct report arrives, and the reasons for the $681 are on the customer's and the contractor's notice.
“Approved by Renée Calder at 09:12 · $1,359 in Tuesday’s batch B-26-41”
Harbourline has invoiced the single-stage CXA4-36A1 three times this quarter, including this application, and Copperline Mechanical twice. The trade-ally scorecard shows each contractor's applications, how many were complete at first submission, lines not listed, claims made twice, requests sent and days to pay. One click sends a product note naming the listed model.
“A product note now saves the next customer a $600 surprise.”
The programme now stands at 11.622 GWh verified of its 18.4 GWh goal, 63.2 %, with 78 % of the year gone. Each measure shows its manual row, deemed saving per unit, units verified, lines stopped and units already counted in another programme. At the last three months' pace the programme reaches 16.1 GWh by 31 Dec, 2.3 GWh short; clearing the 312,400 kWh waiting on documents closes 0.3 of it.
Counted only for invoice lines that qualify, once per unit across every programme.
Batch B-26-41 carries 149 rebates and $212,819. Before Tomas signs, the payment file builder shows its checks: every application approved by a processor, none paid twice, payees matching the trade-ally register, one payee's bank change confirmed by call-back on 8 Oct, and $5,072,861 left in the budget after this batch. He signs with his Lumina sign-in; accounts payable pays on Wednesday.
The payment file builder never releases money — the programme manager signs every batch.
The same application, seen by the four people it passes through — what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.
Six agents read, match, check and calculate every invoice line; the processor decides and the programme manager signs the batch.
Reads the application form, invoice, spec sheets, AHRI certificates, photos and test reports, and extracts every invoice line with model number exactly as printed, serial, quantity and price, cited to its page.
Looks every model up on the qualified list in force on the install date — ENERGY STAR, the AHRI directory, WaterSense — checks the rating against the programme threshold, and when there is no match shows the nearest listed model and the characters that differ.
Checks the serial, the address and measure, and the account against Home Comfort, Marketplace instant rebates, Income-qualified Home Upgrade and Midstream, and ten years of paid rebates, and returns each pair with the key that links them.
Applies the programme rules — customer on service, install inside the programme year and the 90-day window, trade ally participating and licensed, threshold met, cap applied — and takes the deemed saving from the technical reference manual, line by line.
Drafts the request to the contractor or customer: what was approved, what is held and the exact document that releases it, and which lines cannot be paid and why, naming the listed alternative, with a reply date 14 days out.
Builds the weekly payment file from approved rebates and checks that no application is paid twice, payees and bank details come from the payee register, recent bank changes were confirmed and the batch fits the budget.
Signs every payment batch. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask in plain words, or say what to send. Every answer cites the invoice line, the list version and the rule.
Why was the air conditioner excluded?
The invoice and the AHRI certificate both say Corvane CXA4-36A1, a single-stage unit rated SEER2 15.2. The list in force on 28 Sep 2026 has only the CXA4-36V1, the variable-speed model at SEER2 17.5. Home Comfort pays central air conditioners that are listed and at SEER2 16.0 or more, so line 1 is excluded and $600 is not paid. Its 412 kWh are not counted.
Has this thermostat been paid before?
Yes. Serial NW3-8812-40571 on invoice line 3 got a $75 instant rebate when Dana Whitfield bought it on Lumina Marketplace on 14 Aug 2026, order LM-552190. The invoice says the unit was customer-supplied, so Harbourline only installed it. One rebate per serial, across all programmes: the $75 is excluded here and the 310 kWh stay counted once, under Marketplace.
Draft the request for the duct test report
Drafted for Gil Marchetti at Harbourline. It asks for the test-out report showing leakage of 6 CFM25 or less per 100 sq ft, explains the two lines that cannot be paid, and gives a reply date of 27 Oct. Nothing is sent until you press Send.
Which contractors keep invoicing models that aren't listed?
This quarter the single-stage Corvane CXA4-36A1 came in 7 times: Harbourline 3, Copperline 2 and customers 2. Copperline also sent the Halden HX15-36 three times. Copperline has the most non-listed lines (11) and the lowest first-time completeness (64 %). I would send both a product note naming the listed CXA4-36V1 and HX17-36.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
Measures, lists, duplicate windows, approval limits and the payment day are settings, versioned by the programme.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Match on the listing in force on the install date | On | On · Off — a model listed later does not pass an earlier install; a model delisted later still passes |
| Duplicate window — same serial | For the life of the unit | For the life of the unit · 10 years · 5 years, across all Lumina programmes |
| Duplicate window — same address and measure | 10 years | 10 years · 15 years · 5 years — for insulation, duct sealing and other measures without a serial |
| Submission window | 90 days | 30 to 180 days, in steps of 30, from the install date to a complete application |
| Rebate cap | 50% of the line cost | 50% · 75% · 100% of the line cost |
| Rebate processor approves alone | Up to $5,000 | Up to $2,500 · Up to $5,000 · Up to $10,000 per application; above this the programme manager approves |
| Payment batch | Weekly · Tuesday 15:00 | Weekly · Tuesday 15:00 · Twice a week · Tue and Fri · Daily · 15:00 — the programme manager signs |
| Measures | 7 measures, rule version 2026.4 | Rebate, threshold, cap and manual row for each measure; an edit is saved as a new version |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample programme data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (utility rebate pages quoting 6–8 weeks for a complete application — SoCalGas, OPALCO, PVREA; City of Lompoc rebate programme audit, 2025 — 11 of 81 tested payments without proof of an actively licensed contractor; Idaho PUC Final Order No. 36989 — three duplicate tankless water heater rebates). Lumina Utilities, its programmes, the people, contractors, products and records named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Software that takes a utility rebate application from the moment it arrives to an approved rebate and a signed payment file. Energy Efficiency Rebate Processing adds six agents that read the application, match every invoice line to the qualified product list, check for earlier payments across programmes, calculate the rebate and the deemed saving, draft the deficiency request and build the payment file. Processors decide and the programme manager signs.
The qualified product matcher looks every model up on the list version in force on the install date — ENERGY STAR, the AHRI directory or WaterSense — and checks the rating against the programme threshold. When there is no exact match it shows the nearest listed model and the characters that differ. A near match never qualifies, and the lists are refreshed nightly with every version kept.
The duplicate and cross-programme checker searches every Lumina programme — Home Comfort, Marketplace instant rebates, Income-qualified Home Upgrade and Midstream — and ten years of paid rebates for the same serial, the same address and measure, and the same account. In the sample case it found a thermostat already paid at checkout. It flags the pair; a processor decides which claim stands.
The rebate and savings calculator applies the programme's rule version — service, dates, trade-ally status, thresholds and caps — and takes the deemed saving for each line from its row in the technical reference manual. Savings are counted only for lines that qualify, once per unit across every programme, so the reported total is the verified one.
No. The deficiency writer drafts the request to the contractor or customer, naming exactly the document that releases a held line and why other lines cannot be paid. It never asks for a document the rules do not require, and nothing is sent until the processor presses Send.
Yes. Agents read, match, calculate and draft. A rebate processor approves, holds or excludes every application up to $5,000; above that the programme manager approves, and overriding an exclusion needs the programme manager and a reason. The programme manager signs every payment batch, and bank details come only from the payee register.
Yes. Rebate amounts, thresholds, caps and manual rows per measure, the qualified list sources, the install-date matching rule, duplicate windows, the submission window, approval limits and the payment day are all settings. Changes are saved as a new rule version and apply to applications received after the change.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your programme rules, technical reference manual, application forms and a sample of past applications — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own applications first.
Complete or deficient in minutes, not days.
1-min demoUtility NOC Application ProcessingEvery NOC checked against every asset buffer, issued inside 2 working days.
1-min demoElectrical Drawing ApprovalClause-cited comments on day one, not after resubmission.
1-min demoWe'll run Energy Efficiency Rebate Processing on a sample of your own applications and qualified lists.