City Rebate Intended to Save Energy

City Rebate Intended to Save Energy

Jul 06 - Columbia Daily Tribune

The city of Columbia will pay as much as $5,000 to businesses and other organizations that use large amounts of electricity if they agree to overhaul their lighting systems in an effort to cut electricity use.

Announced this week after a meeting between Columbia businesses and Water and Light Department officials, the rebate is aimed at lessening dependency on high-priced wholesale power.

"With wholesale electric prices on the rise, Columbia Water and Light was looking for ways to 'buy' conservation back from our customers," said Connie Kacprowicz, spokeswoman for the city department.

Increased energy efficiency "lowers the utility's demand, which saves us money so we can turn around and help the customer," she said.

Peak demand in 2004 was 240 megawatts, and this year's higher temperatures are prodding customers to turn on fans and increase the use of air conditioners. Demand has been higher, reaching 247 megawatts earlier this week.

Higher demand means a need for more power, which the city utility has to buy from wholesale providers; the cost eventually is passed on to customers. By targeting some of the city's largest electricity users, department officials say, they can lower total demand.

The city will reimburse a customer half the cost of a revamped lighting system or $100 per kilowatt for electricity cut from the customer's monthly usage. A customer spending $6,000 on an upgrade that lowers monthly usage by 20 kilowatts can expect a $2,000 rebate check.

Customers using 25 or more kilowatts of electricity each month are eligible for the rebate. Money lost through the incentive program could be recouped in about four years through savings gleaned from the lowered demand, said Jay Hasheider, energy services supervisor for the utility.

"The savings will be looked at over several years," Hasheider said, adding that "a handful" of Columbia businesses have expressed interest in the incentive program, which is scheduled to last about a year.

Businesses can upgrade lighting systems to more energy-efficient models in a variety of ways, said Mike Fisher, executive vice president of Boulder, Colo.-based Easylite, which sells and installs revamped lighting systems.

Energy-reducing lighting options include lights that dim when natural light through windows or skylights is brighter. Another option is smaller, newer fluorescent lighting.

Studies have shown that businesses can save as much as 80 percent on electric bills by dimming lights, Fisher said. "The worst case is a 40 percent energy reduction," he said, referring to studies by his company.

The most common type of lighting in businesses is fluorescent, though the type of bulb, its size and its ballast -- the mechanism that provides the proper starting and operating electrical conditions to power the light -- can change the amount of energy used.

Even the most efficient light bulbs only operate at about 50 percent efficiency, Hasheider said. "I feel that lighting has the most opportunity for improvement because it has the least efficiency," he said.

The rebate is not the first incentive offered by the utility. Last year, more than 870 switches were installed on residential air conditioners that shut off air compressors after 71/2 minutes.

"The general theory behind this is: Every kilowatt-hour someone saves is one that we don't have to buy," Kacprowicz said.

More information on the rebate program and air conditioner switches is available from Hasheider at 874-7325.

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