For commercial customers of ComEd Energy, there is a major opportunity to receive significant funding towards building efficiency upgrades — including lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, insulation, and more. ComEd’s energy incentive program, which became even stronger at the start of 2023, continues to be one of the top incentive programs in the US for C&I facilities throughout Illinois.
In this blog: We will cover how our team helped HD Supply unlock rebates that equated to over 50% of the total project cost for an LED lighting retrofit at their warehouse facility in Northlake, IL.
What are Energy Incentives?
Commercial and industrial facilities are some of the largest power consumers on the electrical grid — representing ~35% of all electricity consumed in the US. Furthermore, the US Department of Energy projects that these facilities waste an average of 30% of the energy they consume, leaving a major opportunity for energy conservation and emission reductions across this sector.
To support wider adoption of these technologies, utility providers will commonly offer Energy Incentive programs that allocate funding towards efficiency projects in the form of rebates. These rebates can be substantial, with some programs covering 50%+ of the total project cost, depending on different criteria.
Understanding the different incentives available in your service area, along with the how your project meets the required criteria, is a major opportunity to unlock the maximum funds available, reducing your project payback period, and boosting your return on investment.
Uncovering additional funds for Networked Lighting Controls
It’s important for businesses to understand that energy incentive programs are continually changing. Our team has seen utilities around the country significantly reduce their available incentives, even eliminate programs all together, as a result of a wide-ranging variables like shifting company or city goals, new politicians taking office, or economic circumstances. Programs may also simply run out of available funds because of high participation from their customers.
The reverse can also be true with overfunded programs. Commonly, utility providers (or program administrators) will overestimate the number of applicants and struggle to hit their yearly project funding goals. This has historically led to program administrators implementing increases to the per-project rebates available, typically in the form of limited time bonus rebates, to encourage more participation in the program.
That was the scenario for HD Supply’s warehouse lighting upgrade in their Northlake, IL space. Their team was in the process of working with PEC to design and prepare for an LED upgrade, but timing and competing capital needs were creating stalls for officially pressing go on the project’s implementation.
However, towards the end of 2022, our Energy Incentives team learned that ComEd had made large increases to the existing available funds for projects that incorporated Networked Lighting Controls — a key component of HD Supply’s new lighting design. Networked Lighting Controls (NLCs) are critical for maximizing energy efficiency because they allow light levels to be programmed and controlled from a centralized network. These controls allow lighting design teams to leverage efficiency techniques like zoning, dimming, incorporating occupancy sensors, and tracking system health through enhanced data reporting.
This program improvement helped to unlock an additional 42% of the total project cost in available rebates — equating to an added ~$130,000 in energy incentives and covering over 50% of the entire LED retrofit.
As a result, HD Supply was able to overcome existing capital roadblocks to deploy a high-performing, state-of-the-art LED lighting system that now provides employees with:
- Better, safer light levels
- Expected energy savings of over $100,000/year
- Over 1,000,000 kWh’s saved each year
- Project payback period less than 3 years
Delivering a landslide of wins for both HD Supply and ComEd Energy — as they collaborate to make the planet a safer, better place.
Meet the Sales Engineer, Jason Sotira
PEC Sales Engineer Jason Sotira played a pivotal role in driving this project forward. Sales Engineers at PEC work directly with clients to learn their goals and design a system that best meets their needs. Jason helped HD Supply design a system that maximized impact and met the necessary requirements to take full advantage of the ComEd Incentive Program. Working with clients across the country, Jason has the experience to plan for multi-site rollouts, helping customers identity where LED retrofits will be most impactful.
Send Jason a note at the email below to setup an intro call and see how you could benefit from an LED upgrade.
Book a meeting with Jason
Email: jason.sotira@pecnw.com
