From the mom-and-pop pizza parlor to the multimillion-dollar pharmaceutical company, every type of business is looking for ways to reduce costs, and one way to achieve this is through energy efficiency programs. So, how do you know what programs are out there and how to implement them? Businesses can rely on Potomac Edison’s team of expert advisors, who will help them tap into an array of customized energy efficiency programs.

In 2008, the Maryland Legislature passed the EmPOWER Maryland Act[1] to incentivize businesses and residents across the state to save energy. David Roop, Senior Regional Account Team Manager at CLEAResult, who implements Potomac Edison’s Energy Solutions for Business Program, says businesses need to be educated on what’s available to them from an incentive perspective to save energy and, in turn, save money.

“Essentially, it’s an environmentally driven program to help businesses operate more sustainably, and we provide energy advisory support that is tailored to their individual business,” explains Roop, who adds that Potomac Edison’s commercial and industrial customers include businesses in manufacturing, health care, government, real estate/property management, retail and groceries.

In addition to helping businesses reduce their energy use, there are incentive programs that cover up to 80% of the total cost of building tune-up projects.

For example, a business might want to upgrade its lighting systems with motion sensors and system-wide controls. Roop says that his team of energy advisors will come in, do a thorough assessment, present lighting options and work with approved contractors to implement the work, while also looking for other ways that the business could save money. “We will look at the settings on your HVAC system and make suggestions on how the system can be adjusted to run more efficiently,” he says. “It might be something simple, such as a smart thermostat to help reduce energy consumption, or something more complex, like a compressed air system that powers manufacturing equipment. All of these changes/modifications could be eligible for an incentive program, meaning that the business could only pay 20-50% of the cost of the new equipment and installation.” Plus, the business would reduce energy consumption and save money.

“Think about a hotel. If nobody’s in the room, it makes sense to turn the lights off and turn the air conditioner either up or down, depending upon the season. Then, when a guest comes in and enters the room, [the system] can turn on the air conditioning system and the lights,” Roop explains.

For industrial and manufacturing businesses, Potomac Edison will do a custom assessment by looking at every piece of machinery on-site, because there could be savings in almost every part of the process. By discussing how its production works, what types of equipment are involved and what can be changed or adjusted, the business may be able to save energy and increase production.

As an example, Roop points to a data center where they believed that they had implemented as many cost and energy-saving measures as possible. Engineers provided the facility manager with three options that would save energy for very little cost and another three that would require capital funding. All of the recommended measures, if implemented, could have saved this customer 2,500,000 kilowatt hours per year. Incentives from the program helped this customer make the decision to move forward with the recommended changes. Potomac Edison also worked with a business in Cumberland to upgrade its machinery, helping the business to double productivity while keeping energy costs low.

Potomac Edison’s Retro-commissioning Program, called RCx, is a great example of a low-cost/no-cost energy-saving measure, explains Roop. By measuring energy use before making adjustments to operating equipment and then measuring again after the adjustments/changes are made, the program can save $0.20 per kWh. Typical adjustments for complex facilities greater than 150,000 square feet include equipment and lighting schedules, temperature/pressure set points, control systems, adjusting sensors, opening/closing dampers, adjusting valves, changing filter type and adjusting thermostats.

In addition to helping businesses save energy and money, Potomac Edison can assist with efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. “The State of Maryland has a new regulation called Building Energy Performance Standards, or BEPS,[2] that will require buildings over 35,000 square feet that are commercial, not governmental, to meet a certain criterion to reduce greenhouse gases,” Roop says. “Potomac Edison’s energy savings programs result in greenhouse gas reduction.”

Reach out today to improve efficiency and boost your bottom line with Potomac Edison’s Energy Solutions for Business Program.

[1]https://energy.maryland.gov/pages/facts/empower.aspx#:~:text=The%20EmPOWER%20Maryland%20Energy%20Efficiency,energy%20efficiency%20and%20conservation%20efforts.

[2] https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/air/ClimateChange/Pages/BEPS.aspx