Businesses have financial reasons to go green

By Lisa Maddux

When your company is one of Madison's biggest consumers of energy, it pays to look for ways to trim energy costs.

Paul Thomsen, chairman of the board of Schoep's Ice Cream said the company's position as one of the top 20 energy users in the city comes at a high cost.

But for about 10 years, Schoep's has worked with Focus on Energy, a statewide energy-efficiency initiative, to help identify, implement and pay for programs to increase energy efficiency at the ice cream manufacturer.

"We use them all the time to come in and evaluate," Thomsen said of Focus. But the collaboration is more than just idea-sharing; Focus on Energy provides financial incentives to help companies pay for the installation of cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable-energy projects.

Thomsen said he couldn't even guess how much money the company has received from Focus on Energy over the years but could quickly point to refrigeration and lighting projects in the past year that reaped tens of thousands of dollars in incentives.

"It's been worth the effort," Thomsen said. "There's no downside, it's just the time it takes to do it."

Amanda Wollin, marketing manager of Focus on Energy's business programs, said the organization strives to make it easy for businesses to increase their energy efficiency without depleting their finances. Focus on Energy's goal is to help businesses complete projects they would otherwise not be able to do, or not be able to do as quickly.

In addition to offering financial incentives, Focus on Energy offers technical expertise, provides training for businesses, can help with energy analysis and will help connect businesses to vendors for projects.

"We can help a business go through all the process," Wollin said. Sometimes that process is limited to an energy analysis and recommendations. Other times, it involves a large financial incentive to buy the necessary equipment. Incentives vary depending on the project, and are broken down on the group's Web site.

Thomsen said Schoep's has had a number of projects that did not rely on Focus for financial help, but did use Focus energy advisers for suggestions.

"Some businesses will see very large savings without having to put a lot of capital into it," Wollin agreed.

"In today's tough economic climate, businesses cannot afford to overlook energy efficiency," she said.

That means businesses as large as pulp and paper companies and as small as mom-and-pop grocery stores seek guidance from Focus on Energy. Financial incentives can range up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the project.

"We work with all different types and sizes of businesses," Wollin said.

Since 2001, Focus has helped Wisconsin businesses save $120 million in annual energy costs, Wollin said. Between July 2001 and June 2008, Focus on Energy helped more than 56,000 businesses around Wisconsin.

Businesses are eligible to work with Focus on Energy as long as their utility is a participating member, and most utilities in the state participate, which means a percent of their revenue goes to fund Focus on Energy. The state's big utilities are obligated to participate, and smaller ones that do not participate have the option of running their own energy-efficiency initiatives. Wollin said nearly all the state's utilities take part in Focus on Energy.

Wisconsin Power and Light Co., an Alliant Energy company, contributes to Focus on Energy in addition to providing its own financial incentives. Through WPL's Shared Savings program, businesses can get help evaluating projects and can get low-cost financing to buy and install energy-efficient equipment. Businesses repay WPL monthly using their energy savings.

According to information provided by Alliant Energy Communications Program Manager Scott Reigstad, the company has implemented more than 3,300 contracts in the past 10 years, with more than $404 million invested in energy-efficient equipment and operations.

In 2007, WPL's Shared Savings program financed more than $40.7 million in energy-efficient improvements at customers' facilities.

Companies that have taken advantage of such energy-saving incentives seem to have only good things to say about them.

"My advice would be to encourage folks to get in touch with Focus," said John Filsinger, senior vice president of Webcrafters Inc.

The Madison manufacturer of books, catalogs, workbooks and magazines has received assistance from Focus on Energy for several projects. Filsinger said the availability of funds from Focus on Energy has certainly affected what his company has been able to do.

Financial assistance makes it at least a little easier for companies who want to be environmentally friendly to take those steps, even if they may be a little more expensive in the beginning, he said.

"There's no question that it's much harder to do what's right when you're just trying to get along day to day," Filsinger said.

Doug Pearson, director of Building Services for the Madison Metropolitan School District, figures the school district has received about $300,000 in the last five years for work on items such as steam-to-hot-water conversion, lighting retrofit, low-water-spray nozzles and solar PV panels.

"That's $300,000 in projects we wouldn't have done (without Focus on Energy,)" Pearson said.

Pearson also spoke highly of the expertise offered by Focus, particularly if a business does not have a high comfort level with the fields of energy efficiency or renewable energy.

"Focus provides the support," he said. "Focus will help them walk through that."

Thomsen said he thinks every business could benefit from examining their energy use and the options available.

"There's a lot of room for people to improve," he said.

FOCUS ON ENERGY

www.focusonenergy.com

800-762-7077

SHARED SAVINGS

www.alliantenergy.com

Click on Utility Services, then For Your Business.

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