Wisconsin-based Franklin Energy has opened an office in Lansing’s Old Town to handle four energy savings programs for the Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL). Franklin will hire about 45 people to implement them.
The Franklin programs are under a $1 million BWL contract for 2009.
In the first year of the program, the board projects savings of 6,830,651 kilowatt hours of electricity, or enough power to provide electricity to about 948 homes in a year, Aileen Gow of the BWL says. In the fourth year, BWL expects to double that.
“It is the BWL’s investment in energy efficiency programs that is bringing some job growth to our region, both through the contractors we hire directly and the independent vendors and retailers that sell the products we offer incentives on,” Gow says.
The BWL is the first utility in Michigan to implement such a program, which is mandated by state law.
Under the BWL contract, Franklin is hiring area subcontractors to implement the programs, Gow says.
The programs are divided into two components: residential and commercial.
The residential programs include recycling old refrigerators and freezers, and offering rebates on purchases of EPA-rated Energy Star light fixtures and ceiling fans. Later this year, incentives will promote purchases of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and light emitting diode (LED) holiday lights.
The BWL will also offer cash incentives to businesses to help them cover the cost of energy-efficient upgrades for such things as lighting and air-conditioning.
Source: Aileen Gow, Lansing Board of Water and Light
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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