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The utility and energy program funded with federal stimulus dollars have teamed up to alert businesses to an array of commercial services that can reduce energy costs and generate local jobs.
Thurston Energy, a joint program of the Thurston Climate Action Team and Thurston County Economic Development Council, helps businesses identify energy-saving measures, then connects them at no cost to local contractors that can do the work, Thurston Energy business manager Joshua Cummings said.
Then Puget Sound Energy provides rebates and other financial incentives for energy-conservation initiatives available to those businesses, said Farra Vargas, a Puget Sound Energy program coordinator based in Olympia.
Since rolling out the program early this year, Thurston Energy has worked with 32 South Sound businesses to trim their energy bills through such things as energy-efficient lighting and windows; new heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; insulation; programmable thermostats; and water systems.
Many of the projects infused with utility rebates, as well as grants and tax credits, have a payback time of less than two years, Cummings said.
For Puget Sound Energy, when businesses reduce their energy use, it defers the need for costly new power plants that can take years to permit and build, said Casey Cochrane, local government and community-relations manager for Puget Sound Energy in Thurston and Lewis counties.
“Energy efficiency is our first resource,” Vargas said.
Thursday, the Thurston Energy-Puget Sound Energy partners were at the Batdorf & Bronson coffee warehouse on Market Street in Olympia for a demonstration of energy-efficient fluorescent light fixtures.
The company is poised to replace 23 metal halide overhead lights in a move that should reduce energy consumption in the warehouse by more than 50 percent.
The coffee-roasting company has a reputation for green business initiatives, reducing its solid waste to next to nothing and purchasing all green energy from Puget Sound Energy.
“We keep looking for savings,” company vice president and Chief Operating Officer David Wasson said as electrician Shawn Swanson of U.S. Electric Corp. of Washington hoisted a fixture into position for testing.
Once the retrofit is complete, the annual savings on the company energy bill should be about $1,700, company maintenance engineer Jim Unzicker said. With a more than 60 percent rebate from Puget Sound Energy, it will only take about 1.6 years to pay for the project.
“There’s a lot of warehousing in the community that could use some lighting changes,” Wasson said, adding that Cummings can show the project to other businesses once the lighting is installed.
Fueled by a $1 million federal stimulus grant, Thurston Energy also offers energy audits and technical assistance to homeowners in Thurston County. To date, 250 homes have been audited and about half of those have followed up with energy-saving projects, Thurston Energy Executive Director Ramsey Zimmerman said.
John Dodge: 360-754-5444 jdodge@theolympian.com
