Utility Rebate Programs Can Help Energy Efficiency Projects Get Off The Ground

By Casey Laughman, Managing Editor

Last year, the Hays (Texas) Consolidated Independent School District undertook an effort to replace and retrofit interior lighting. The normal reasons for doing such a project — saving money and reducing energy usage — were motivating factors, says R.C. Herrin, executive director of maintenance and operations. But a utility rebate program made work the district was already going to do an even more attractive option, helping to get the energy efficiency program off the ground.

That work included replacement of about 2,000 32-watt T8s with 28-watt lamps and retrofit of 320- and 250-watt HID fixtures with 72-watt T5 high output fixtures.

“We probably spent $100,000 in equipment and we were reimbursed $20,000 of that, and we also reduced demand by reducing that interior lighting,” Herrin says. The lighting project reduced demand by 68.5 kW, Herrin says, or 22 percent.

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