SPRINGFIELD–(ENEWSPF)–December 14, 2010. The State Energy Office at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is announcing a special lighting sale for public sector buildings through its Illinois Energy Now program.
The federal government has mandated that T12 lamps be phased out of production in 2012. Approximately 30 percent of all fluorescent lamps sold in the U.S. are still T12 technology. As a result of the T12 phase out, 70 percent of all T12 fluorescent lamps sold in the U.S. will be phased out by July 2012. This means all public facilities will eventually have to upgrade all of their T12 lighting. To help the public sector and public schools, the State’s Illinois Energy Now program is offering its best incentives to upgrade to high-efficiency T8 or T5 lamps.
“The incentive amount for lighting will never be better than through this special sale,” said Warren Ribley, Director of DCEO. “The Illinois Energy Now program allows the State of Illinois to assist communities in funding energy efficiency projects and provides DCEO with the necessary resources to meet the State’s green goals by reducing the demand for electricity, conserving tax dollars and creating green sector jobs.”
DCEO’s Illinois Energy Now special sale is open to municipalities, park districts, fire districts, public k-12 schools, public universities, community colleges and state and federal facilities within ComEd and Ameren electric service areas.
The Illinois Energy Now special sale will be available from December 13, 2010 to April 15, 2011. Applicants seeking the Illinois Energy Now Special must submit an addendum along with the standard application and follow the Public Sector Electric Efficiency Program Guidelines and specifications posted at www.IllinoisEnergy.org (follow the Illinois Energy Now link). Incentives cannot exceed 100 percent of project cost.
The Illinois Energy Now program offers a portfolio of electric efficiency programs to achieve targeted annual energy savings goals. The Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard was signed in to law August 2007, giving Illinois among the most ambitious energy efficiency standards in the nation. This initiative required Illinois utilities to reduce overall electric usage by 0.2 percent of demand in 2008, escalating to 2.0 percent by 2015. This portfolio creates a substantial budget for programs and incentives to reduce electric energy usage and demand for customers of ComEd and Ameren.
DCEO’s Illinois Energy Now program provides incentives for the Public facilities, Low Income Affordable Housing New Construction and Gut Rehab, as well as Training and Education opportunities.
Source: illinois.gov
