Central Hudson is unveiling a $10.5 program that aims to help municipalities, institutions, small and medium-size businesses and nonprofits upgrade their lighting without laying out the upfront costs. The program is first-come, first-served.
“Municipalities and other government entities often find it difficult to pay for the initial retrofit because of budgetary impacts,” said James P. Laurito, president of Central Hudson. “Our lighting program solves this dilemma by offering high-efficiency lighting fixtures at no charge for governmental buildings, with the added benefit of lower energy use, year after year.”
The work must be performed by Alliance Energy Solutions, a Connecticut- based company and subsidiary of Grainger, which also installs the new fixtures and processes all paperwork. Central Hudson will pay for 70 percent of the total installed lighting costs directly to Alliance, and the municipal and governmental agencies can cover the remaining 30 percent of the costs by assigning their Energy Policy Act (EPACT) tax credits to the lighting agent.
Energy Alliance Solutions was chosen after a bidding process, said Central Hudson spokesman John Maserjian, and because they were large enough to create a “turnkey program,” and do the paperwork necessary to allow transfer of federal tax credits under EPACT from municipalities to company coffers to help pay for the improvements.
Any state, local or federal governmental facility with the ability to assign their EPACT tax credits may participate, including municipal buildings, public schools, state and county offices, police departments, fire stations, state colleges and universities and federal facilities.
Central Hudson originally formulated their upgrade program to allow customers to use a contractor who they selected, but Maserjian said that company found that complicated all aspects of the task, and lessened participation.
“We found that there was not as high a participation rate because the customers were responsible for finding the contractors themselves. So we thought by developing a turnkey program with one contractor that was able to handle all of the work, it would greatly simplify the program,” he said.
Central Hudson also offers lighting upgrades for commercial and nonprofits, including businesses, community agencies, private schools and colleges, hospitals, manufacturers, retail stores and other commercial facilities.
The businesses or nonprofit can finance the 30 percent balance with Central Hudson at zero percent over two years, with no up-front cost. That money is held now in a $1.5 million revolving loan fund also available on a first come first serve basis. The loan is effectively paid back by the energy savings, which typically matches the two-year financing period.
“Both of these programs offer a simple way save energy, save money, improve workplace lighting and protect the environment, all while providing long-term benefits with little or no investment,” Laurito said. “They aid taxpayers, nonprofit organizations and businesses alike, and enrollment is easy.”
For more information, visit www.CentralHudson.com/SaveMoney or call (845) 486-5221.
