Businesses going green can add more green to their wallets.
Energy efficiency is crucial to the success of any operation. Making strategic energy efficiency upgrades can help companies keep pace with the competition while cutting down on the operation’s environmental impact — and boosting the bottom line along the way.
When it comes to identifying and implementing specific commercial and industrial energy incentives and rebates, Wabash Valley Power Alliance partners with its 23 member electric distribution cooperatives on its Power Moves® energy efficiency program. Through direct contact with members on their lines, WVPA member co-ops and the Power Moves team help find the ideal energy and cost saving solutions for each unique business.
Power Moves team members Dan Phillips and Mary Miller review a system upgrade that was part of a Power Moves rebate for a new business.
“The Power Moves team strives to support businesses and be the best partner we can be,” said Power Moves team member Julie Summers. “We want to exceed expectations and make sure they get the most cost and energy savings possible.”
Summers is one member of the Power Moves team dedicated to ensuring businesses have access to energy efficiency programs that help improve their operation costs, community, and the bottom line. The Power Moves team works directly with businesses served by WVPA member co-ops on new construction, retrofits, and custom projects, to figure out incentives, offer energy efficiency improvement suggestions, and advise organizations on for the rebate process.
“We recognize that companies have unique challenges that need to be addressed, and they likely have an increasing desire to deepen their energy saving programs,” said Mary Miller, an engineer on the Power Moves team who advises businesses. “That’s why our priority is to provide the tools necessary to meet or exceed those goals and maximize savings in a timely and cost-effective manner.”
While industry trends have changed over the years, WVPA works with its member cooperatives to provide integrated services to drive personalization and provide insights that best serve their consumers. By staying on top of the latest technology and advances in industries and energy efficiency, electric co-ops can take that information directly to the businesses they serve to address their unique needs and achieve their goals.
“Those visits with businesses give us a chance to open their eyes to what the whole program has to offer,” said Jeff Holowach, a Power Moves team member who works closely with businesses on retrofit rebates. “From HVAC systems, compressed air, and custom lighting controls, we have ways to make efficient lighting schematics even more cost effective.”
LED lighting installs and upgrades are the most common projects, growing in popularity for both energy efficiency and potential energy cost savings. But LED lighting projects are going beyond basic installs, with more warehouses and operations using more advanced technology, such as occupancy sensors, so lights only come on when a space is occupied.
“Any project someone thinks they could have some energy savings for, we’ll perform an energy analysis and see if that project qualifies,” Miller said. “We serve as another resource for them, so if they want an additional opinion or added insight, we provide that other point of view. That in-person connection that an electric co-op provides to its members helps us truly understand their needs.”
And when companies work with Power Moves, they receive personalized guidance from their local electric co-op and the entire Power Moves team throughout the application process to maximize their potential rebate amount and that the application is ultimately successful.
“WVPA’s member electric cooperatives, including the Power Moves team, have established relationships with companies where they can reach out to us and ask for advice, insight, and input into projects,” Holowach said. “We work together to see how we can get them the most incentive money possible.”
As a result, some partnerships that started as a single project have evolved into dozens more throughout the years. Not only have projects flourished, but they’ve also led to energy efficient solutions that weren’t considered prior to the businesses meeting with their member co-op.
However, change doesn’t happen overnight. Wabash Valley Power and its member cooperatives have been working in tandem for 12 years on the Power Moves program to reverse the effect of climate change, support businesses’ energy efficiency goals, and develop a greener world for the next generation.