Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)

Legal name: Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931228867
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Portland, OR, US
Phone
5036885400
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Energy Resources Conservation and Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$41,139,472
Expenses
$41,776,915
Assets
$20,737,294
Liabilities
$17,649,842

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • REBECCA YATES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • REBECCA YATES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $354,171 total reported compensation
  • JEFFREY HARRIS (CHIEF TRANSFORMATION): $270,632 total reported compensation
  • SUSAN HERMENET (VP ANALYTICS, RESEARCH): $262,468 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) is a nonprofit organization that drives market transformation to accelerate energy efficiency in the Northwest. The alliance represents the market power of the region's more than 14.5 million consumers, working to build trust and credibility with regional and national entities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Market development and transformation (see schedule o for description)in partnership with the region, the alliance uses the market power of the northwest to accelerate the innovation and adoption of both electric and natural gas energy-efficient products, services and practices. Some key activities and regional results stemming from the alliance's 2024 investment include: grew the energy star retail products platform (esrpp) to reach 31% of u.s. Households through targeted retention and recruitment. Building scale through the national program ensures greater influence with manufacturers and enables northwest consumers to have more access to efficient and affordable product options. More than 300 retail locations throughout the northwest participate in neea's retail product portfolio (rpp) program. Added two new pumps manufacturer representatives to the extended motor products program to increase coverage east of the cascades and in rural areas. Adding these new participants will provide new insights to the program regarding rural market and irrigation pump sales and inform strategies to accelerate market adoption. Realized an estimated 18% increase year over year in replacement sales of heat pump water heaters. In 2024, neea focused on increasing installer confidence and technical capability with heat pump water heater technology to prepare the market for an upcoming federal water heater standard. Worked with stakeholders to better understand the benefits, market gaps and market transformation opportunities related to dual-fuel residential hvac. Key activities included installing field units for dual-fuel demonstration project, participating in two regional workgroups, conducting data and modeling activities, and discussing regional needs with neea's board of directors.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.5%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.85; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 4 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 83.8% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $34.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $354K · 27 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.8M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.