|
RE:
Free Money from the Government and your Electric Utility - An Update on
Utility Energy Efficiency Rebates
Dear Website
Customer:
I am not
used to the Government or my electric utility giving me any money, but
that is just what has happened. The Texas Legislature gave us a big rebate
on our electric bill when our electric industry was deregulated in 1999.
A significant provision of Texas electric deregulation is a mandate to
our electric transmission and distribution providers to improve energy
efficiency in the marketplace. Specifically they must meet at least 10%
of the growth in electric demand through conservation of energy.
This
is where the big money comes in!
All the bills
for electric power that is transmitted from the generation plants to our
homes and businesses comes with a small extra. An incremental amount of
money is sifted from each bill into a fund. This fund is specifically
set aside to promote and compensate electric efficiency measures. The
budget for TXU energy in 2003 is nearly $40 million
dollars for this project. All of this money will be spent in the form
of rebates to consumers and efficiency providers.
TXU Energy Services has
been doing these programs for more than two years, and we are fully up
to speed on how to best implement a project for your home or business.
Specifically, the programs of interest to you are the Air Conditioning
Distributor Market Transformation Program, the Commercial and Industrial
Standard Offer Program, and a newly funded program called the Air Conditioning
Installer Training Program. Each of these programs has a net result of
partially funding energy efficiency improvements to your home or business.
Deciding which program is best for you is our job.
The Air
Conditioning Distributor Program is an effort to directly rebate
a portion of the incremental cost of higher efficiency air conditioning
replacements. In most cases, the higher efficiency unit becomes only slightly
higher in price once the incentive rebate is figured in. The better unit
usually pays for itself in 18 to 24 months.
The Commercial
Industrial Standard Offer Program provides incentives on larger
projects for combined efforts of lighting efficiency and HVAC as well
as other more complex measures. These programs have been used in light
commercial buildings all the way up to university and hospital campuses.
We can also take advantage of aggregating several buildings together with
this program to mix and match efficiency improvements and maximize incentive
rebate dollars.
The Air
Conditioning Installer Training Program is a new and unusual
program. It is an unfortunate, but known fact that HVAC equipment is not
always installed properly. HVAC equipment undergoes the final step of
manufacturing in your facility. This step is the one that makes the HVAC
manufacturers lose sleep at night. This ambitious program is a process
of training installers in the proper methods of installation.
Where you
can benefit is in the verification process. Each contractor in this program
will obtain incentive dollars for submitting installed HVAC systems to
the rigorous verification process of the program. This will benefit you
by having an third party inspector verify the proper installation of the
HVAC system. This will benefit us by having a better-trained workforce
providing quality systems for you. The incentives help to defray the costs
of training and the verification process.
If you would
like additional information about these programs, or others that I did
not mention here, do not hesitate to call me at (214) 631-1010. I spend
a significant amount of time on these programs, and can help you to find
your way though the process.
Sincerely
KAHN MECHANICAL
CONTRACTORS
Josh Kahn
TACL
A370C
|
