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The Energy Alliance Group of Michigan (EAG) was recently approached by a potential client who had a strong motivation to cut their growing energy bills. After an initial walk through of their facility many opportunities were identified that would significantly reduce unnecessary expenses. Based on the initial site review the client requested an audit of their whole energy infrastructure as they began to understand how much money they had been wasting!
The client’s building had formerly been occupied by five individual tenant companies. The tenants had left and our client took over the entire space which they had now occupied for 7 years.
When EAG conducted the initial site visit, we were shocked to see the 5 original tenant’s electrical and gas utility meters all still in operation. Unknown to our client, there is an expense for each of those meters from the utility company that installed them. Removing the individual meters and consolidating them into a single meter from each utility would instantly save the company $2000 per year in unnecessary energy expenses. One specific meter had registered zero usage for the year yet the bill showed a cumulative charge of $300 simply for use of the meter! That is money that could have been saved!
“Building owners spend more than $6 billion to light their parking lots and garages, and much of this could be saved if parking lots and garages were upgraded to the most efficient lighting solutions.” U.S. Department of Energy
Increased energy costs along with the need to improve profits are pushing many company CFO’s to look for ways to cut their energy expenses. There is also a big push for businesses to “save money by saving energy” that is being led by the U.S. Department of Energy. In a recent article by the DOE, they addressed the often overlooked expense of parking lot lighting. Citing what they call their Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking (LEEP) campaign, they illustrated the potential energy savings possible with conversion to energy efficient technology:
“…more than 100 U.S. businesses and organizations are participating in the campaign and planning or installing energy efficient lighting in their parking lots and garages. In the past year, these organizations have committed to install efficient lighting across more than 270 million square feet of parking space – cutting energy use by up to 90 percent.”
Unnecessary meters and overlooked parking lots are just two of the many areas that can yield energy savings for a business. If your company is interested in becoming more energy efficient there are countless initiatives, programs, rebates, tax incentives and government programs that can assist you. A good first step is the special report entitled Ten Questions to Ask Before an Energy Efficiency Upgrade! To get a free copy simply click HERE!
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