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Commercial lighting program finds big savings in Sister, OR
Jan 15 2010
Business owners in the Central Oregon town of Sisters have “seen the light” and are actively participating in a new commercial lighting program offered by Central Electric Cooperative. One of three utilities to participate in BPA’s 2009 Energy Smart Commercial Lighting pilot project, Central Electric’s successful launch in Sisters convinced the utility to make the program permanent.
“The response in Sisters has been tremendous,” said Vern Rice, Central Electric’s energy services supervisor. “To date, we’ve completed 51 lighting audits — and 56 percent of those customers have made a commitment to upgrade their lighting.” Rice says the first round of projects represents a savings of approximately 500,000 kilowatt hours per year — and more projects are on the way.
According to Rice, the pilot introduced businesses, nonprofits, school districts and other commercial customers to the benefits of energy efficient lighting solutions. Central Electric selected Sisters, population 1800, to test the program because it had the right business density and diversity. A breakfast kick-off for interested customers was followed by a week of lighting audits to demonstrate the energy and cost savings of high-efficiency lighting.
Lighting upgrades are committed, completed or underway at several locations including the middle school and high school, an auto parts store and for several business customers and retailers. One fabric and yarn retailer reports investing in a lighting upgrade that increased the amount of floor area they could use to display their products. Improved lighting also improved the shopping experience by shining better light on the fabric and yarn inventory. Shop owners have seen an increase in sales that they attribute to the improved retail environment.
“We look forward to introducing the opportunity for energy and cost savings to our customers in neighboring communities,” said Rice.
Central Electric has approximately 27,000 residential and 2,600 commercial/industrial customers located in Deschutes, Crook, Jefferson, Grant, Linn, Wasco and Lake counties, in central and eastern Oregon.
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