Shelburne company sees big savings from efficiency

SHELBURNE, Vt. --A maker of high performance cable wire has cut its annual electric bill by about $45,000, thanks to energy efficiency measures it installed with the help of Efficiency Vermont.

Harbor Industries production manager Charlie Peet says the new, efficient lighting is making a significant dent in what had been an annual electric bill of $360,000.

The 75,000-square-foot plant is a heavy user of power, operating 19 hours a day, seven days a week.

Peet said he was skeptical in his early conversations with Efficiency Vermont, the statewide "efficiency utility" established by the Public Service Board in 1999.

"I found it hard to believe," Peet said. "I was like, 'Yeah, right, we're going to save $45,000 a year. Whatever.'"

Efficiency Vermont, funded through a surcharge on Vermonters' electric bills, was set up to reduce, or at least slow the growth of, the state's energy consumption by looking for places where new efficiency measures would make a difference.

It typically provides technical advice and incentive funding for projects designed to reduce energy consumption. Efficiency Vermont's recent projects have ranged from working with Champlain Valley Union High School on the school's new wood-chip-burning heating system to helping Essex Junction install new, efficient Christmas lights for its holiday displays.

Appliances, machinery, office equipment, heating and cooling systems and other electrical devices often can be replaced with more efficient models when the time comes to upgrade, said Dan Mellinger, project manager with Efficiency Vermont.

"We work to reduce energy needs," Mellinger said. "It's cheaper to save energy than to buy it."

At Harbor Industries, there's an added bonus: The new lights are brighter, helping workers sort the many different colors of cable wire the company makes.

"They're the best we've had," said Fred Doucette, a production supervisor who has worked in the plant for 20 years. "We used to have a problem detecting colors, but now with the new bright lights, it's easier to see. It's a lot easier on the eyes. At first we thought we'd need sunglasses."

The company got some help when it decided to invest in the new lighting: a $16,000 incentive grant from Efficiency Vermont, a $10,000 tax deduction through the Energy Policy Act and $1,400 in rebates on the new light bulbs.

"It makes no sense for a company not to do this," Peet said. "When you save tens of thousands each year, it makes absolutely no sense not to switch."

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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com