Nathan Shannon is president and CEO of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative, and Scott Rosenberg is co-founder and CEO of 257, a residential clean energy data and AI platform company.
Buying a home is one of the most consequential financial decisions that Americans make. With the national average mortgage rate hardly down from its recent 20-year high, buyers are already stretched, yet the purchase price of a home is only one cost to absorb. Buyers must also navigate the ongoing costs to operate and maintain a home, which include climbing energy rates.
The heating and cooling systems, kitchen appliances and distributed energy resources, like rooftop solar and electric vehicle charging, present in a home not only impact its comfort, but have long-term financial implications for the homeowner’s wallet.
While consumers typically have the data to scrutinize mortgage rates, property taxes and other financial aspects of homeownership during the purchasing process, they are often selecting their new home with little to no guidance on energy efficiency.
New research from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative, conducted with the National Association of Realtors and 257, makes this omission clear. Prospective homebuyers say they care about energy efficiency and clean energy technologies, but the real estate process rarely gives them the information they need.
For utilities, the home-buying process should be viewed as more than a real estate transaction. This process presents a rare moment when consumers are making decisions that will have significant ramifications for their home’s energy consumption for years to come. Yet, presently, utilities are not meaningfully involved.
However, by positioning themselves as trusted experts for both homebuyers and real estate agents, utilities can accelerate the adoption of efficient, grid‑beneficial technologies, including battery storage, heat pumps and solar, while helping consumers make informed, potentially cost-saving decisions at a time when they’re already feeling the pressure from rising housing and energy costs.
Consumers care about efficiency more than real estate agents realize
One of the most striking findings from the new research is the disconnect between what buyers value and what real estate agents think they value. More than 80% of recent homebuyers say energy efficiency is very or moderately important in their decision-making. However, only 34% of agents believe efficiency is that important to buyers.
As a result of this gap, consumers rarely receive adequate guidance around the energy efficiency of homes they’re considering.
When real estate agents assume buyers don’t care, they don’t highlight efficiency features in listings or tours or ask sellers what energy-related assets are present. In the survey of over 1,500 agents with at least two transactions in the past year, a quarter of respondents said they’ve never been asked about efficiency by clients. Yet consumers report the opposite and often struggle to find the information they need.
This disconnect currently leaves buyers in the dark about long‑term operating costs of prospective homes, and as a result, they could be stuck with higher-than-anticipated energy bills for years to come.
As part of this research, 257 analyzed 143 million real estate listings from 1995-2025 and found that the real estate market is not yet telling the full story around energy efficiency and clean energy technologies. Even though roughly one in four U.S. homes has at least one major energy-efficient or clean energy feature, only 8.3% of listings last year mentioned energy efficiency at all.
Some technologies are especially underrepresented: In homes where a heat pump is present, listings mention it only 8% of the time. Rooftop solar, the most visible technology, goes unmentioned a third of the time when present.
This lack of visibility has real financial and grid-related consequences. The analysis conducted by 257 found that listings that mention solar sell for 2% more (+$10,000 on a median-priced home of $557K) and listings that mention heat pumps sell for 0.6-1% more (+$2,300-3,900 on a median sales price of $399K).
In other words, consumers value home energy features and are willing to pay more for them – as long as they’re aware of them. This payback represents approximately 16-33% of the average upfront investment and can influence whether current homeowners install these beneficial assets in the first place.
Utilities are natural partners for real estate agents
Real estate agents are not energy experts and can’t be expected to master technical disciplines like HVAC performance, energy efficiency incentives and rebates, or distributed energy resources.
The knowledge gaps are real: 42% of real estate agents cite lack of personal knowledge as a barrier to discussing efficiency, and 22% say they lack accessible resources or tools. They feel least prepared to discuss environmental benefits, rebates, tax incentives and heat pump technology.
The good news is that real estate agents are open to support and training. Almost 60% of real estate agents surveyed are interested in training on energy efficiency, including incentives and technologies. They’ve expressed interest in quick reference materials, checklists, fact sheets and webinars — all formats that utilities regularly use for residential customers.
Utilities don’t need to reinvent the wheel; they can bring existing education resources into the home-buying ecosystem.
Home purchases are an opportunity for utility engagement
Utilities have long focused their energy efficiency programs on the homes consumers already occupy. But SECC’s research shows that the moment of purchase and the weeks right after might be when consumers are most open to (and most in need of) energy guidance.
According to the nationwide survey of homebuyers, 33% of recent buyers say that they installed energy-efficient appliances after moving in, while 33% installed smart thermostats and 19% installed EV charging.
These are exactly the kinds of upgrades utilities have been encouraging via residential energy efficiency and electrification programs, and homebuyers are already making them. But without guidance, they could install suboptimal equipment, miss applicable incentives, or fail to enroll in relevant programs, such as demand response and EV managed charging.
Utilities can help buyers make better decisions before or as soon as they move in, not months or years later.
The “Home Buying in the Energy Transition” report outlines several practical steps utilities can take to assist both buyers and agents into the home-buying process:
- Create an agent-specific resource hub with fact sheets, program links and FAQs.
- Sponsor energy efficiency content on real estate platforms like MLS and Zillow.
- Provide simple bill-estimation tools for homes currently on the market.
- Develop quick-reference materials real estate agents can use during showings.
- Engage recent movers with messaging tailored around present, missing or newly installed energy assets.
- Partner with contractors and appliance installers to ensure consistent messaging.
These types of initiatives build on existing strengths that many utilities already have, including consumer education, incentive/rebate programs and technical expertise.
As the energy transition reshapes the American home, it’s time for the home-buying process to catch up. Electric utilities are uniquely positioned to fill this gap by becoming trusted partners in a moment when consumers are making decisions that will potentially shape their energy use and, hence, their monthly bills for decades.
With utilities’ support, real estate agents win by better serving their clients and consumers win by making informed, cost-saving decisions. The benefits for utilities themselves are many: They can accelerate the adoption of efficient, grid-friendly technologies; improve participation in energy efficiency and demand response programs; help mitigate the affordability crisis; and make strides to improve waning customer satisfaction scores.
The opportunity is sitting in plain sight, and the moment is right for utilities to seize it.
