Commercial and small businesses as well as school systems have opportunities to lower their electric bills if they take advantage of the many rebate programs explained by Georgia Power at this week’s Rotary meeting.

Local Account Manager, Blake D. Flowers introduced the speakers,

Eric Swann, a 17-year Ga. Power employee and commercial engineer and Alexis Goldman who works in partnership with Georgia Power to help commercial businesses develop their individual plans of improvement.

While Goldman was still a college student, she helped develop a plan that resulted in an annual savings of $115,000 for her college. She explained it was mostly by making changes in lighting.

In addition to lighting, incentives are available for replacement of  heating and cooling systems, water heaters, reflective roofing, and equipment used in food service and groceries.

Companies planning any new construction or revisions can meet with representatives from Ga. Power to learn how they can incorporate energy savings into their projects. Any custom savings require a pre-approval from GA. Power and have caps at $40,000 per building, per year.

New equipment must meet new guidelines, and rebates vary.

Some examples given are: Recycling of a refrigerator can yield up to $50 per unit if the new one is Energy Star rated. Water heater blankets can yield $50 per unit, or up to 50 percent of cost.

HVAC equipment can yield incentives of $20 to $30 per ton, depending on the SEER number; Heat Pumps go from $40 per ton to $60 per ton, depending on the package.
Changes in lighting can save a great deal by using CFL bulbs. New construction lighting can result in 20 cents per watt reduction, capped at $25,000 per building. Outdoor lighting changes can result in a reduction of as much as 200 watts at 20 cents per watt with a cap at $10,000 per building per year.

Once the project is complete, rebates must be applied for within 90 days of completion, and application can be made online. It must include project specification sheet, signed W-9 and itemized, paid invoices.

To learn more about commercial efficiency programs offered by Georgia Power, call 1-877-310-5607 or visit georgiapower.com/commercialsavings.