FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Utilities And You: Incentives and Rebates From the western coasts of the Pacific to the eastern shores of the Atlantic, and everywhere in between, utility companies manage the energy, water, and gas used by the commercial real estate industry. Utility companies across the United States of America offer numerous ways to save at the meter, through custom rebates, special programs, and more.
Incentives and Rebates Many gas, energy, and water utility companies offer rebates and savings to encourage sustainable options for building owners and managers. These programs can generally be broken into two main categories – prescriptive rebates, and custom rebates. Prescriptive rebates are more generic and apply to qualified utility customers. These programs generally base rebates and savings on the usage of high-efficiency equipment like LED lighting, variable frequency drives, HVAC systems, and others. Prescriptive programs are simple to enter, and equipment can be pre-approved for a rebate prior to it being installed depending on the program and company. Custom rebates are specific to each building. If new construction or facility improvement does not fit into the prescriptive rebates or any other utility rebate program, a custom rebate can be designed based around the energy-savings your new construction or facility upgrade would bring. Depending on the utility company, a custom rebate may be completely separate from prescriptive or other rebates, so buildings may apply for multiple types of rebates and receive all of them. In the case of the utility company Georgia Power, custom rebates can apply for up to $75,000 per building per year up to 50 percent of the project cost. Prescriptive and custom rebates are important programs for assisting building upgrades and new construction, here are a few examples of rebate programs from around the country.
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Insight • Issue 1, 2022
NORTHWESTERN ENERGY NorthWestern Energy is an energy and gas utility company primarily servicing most of Montana, eastern South Dakota, and Yellowstone National Park. They also provide gas to portions of Nebraska. With 743,000 customers, NorthWestern Energy serves a wide swath of the northwestern United States. NorthWestern Energy provides multiple savings and rebates programs for buildings to take advantage of. One of these programs is the E+ Commercial Electric Lighting Rebate Program. These rebates are offered to NorthWestern Energy customers in Montana and require the submission of a completed rebate application. The E+ Commercial Electric Lighting Rebate Program helps to encourage sustainable lighting by directly giving money back following a retrofit. These rebates range from $2.00 all the way to $200 depending on the fixture, lamp, or tube upgraded. These upgrades must be ENERGY STAR® or Design Light Consortium (DLC) qualified to apply but upgrading your building’s lighting will already save energy and money. Current rebate prices are valid through June 30, 2022. Work completed prior to August 1, 2021, may not be accepted. The incentives available under this program will be paid 4 – 6 weeks after the project is completed, verified, and your rebate application has been processed.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON Southern California Edison (SCE) is an energy, water, and gas utility servicing over 15 million people in central, coastal, and southern California. SCE is the largest subsidiary of Edison International and SCE was incorporated in 1909. SCE offers numerous rebates and savings for commercial buildings under their Customized Solutions program. The Customized Solution program covers a wide range of products
