While energy efficiency has always been important, it is becoming even more necessary for a number of reasons. First, customers are looking for resources to manage energy usage while also saving on their energy bills. On a larger scale, energy efficiency plays a key role in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency is becoming increasingly more important as organizations worldwide strive to reduce their carbon footprint. Here, we speak with two representatives from local power companies — Derek Mills, manager of demand side management at Entergy New Orleans and Jaci Sewell, manager of energy efficiency at Cleco Power — to learn more about their local and regional efforts to increase energy efficiency.
History of Energy Efficiency
Entergy New Orleans, a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation, is an electric and gas utility serving Orleans Parish. On the electric service side, Entergy New Orleans has 1,800 miles of electric distribution lines and 138 miles of transmission lines that provide nearly 640 megawatts of power to approximately 211,000 customers. Entergy New Orleans also has more than 1,700 miles of natural gas distribution lines and 36 miles of natural gas transmission lines that serve approximately 109,000 customers.
Entergy’s Energy Smart program, developed in 2010 by the New Orleans City Council, provides incentives for Entergy New Orleans’ customers to perform energy-saving upgrades in their homes and businesses.
“Our team works with residents, business owners, facility managers and trade ally contractors to identify opportunities and provide cash incentives for completing eligible upgrades with measurable, verifiable energy savings,” Mills said. “Since 2010, the program has saved over 354.8 million kWh, and provided over $43 million in incentives to more than 113,000 Energy New Orleans homes and businesses.”
Meanwhile, Cleco Power is a regulated electric public utility and subsidiary of Pineville, Louisiana-based Cleco Corporate Holdings (a regional energy holding company). Cleco Power owns nine generating units with a rated capacity of 3,035 megawatts, and it operates 946 megawatts on behalf of its generation partners. Assets also include 1,335 miles of transmission lines and 12,152 miles of distribution lines. The company uses multiple generating sources and multiple fuels (such as natural gas, coal, petroleum coke, biomass and waste heat) to serve approximately 293,000 customers in 24 of Louisiana’s parishes.
“Cleco first began offering an energy efficiency program nine years ago and has continued to expand its program offerings each year,” Sewell said. “We added an online marketplace in 2018, an elementary education program in 2019, a virtual home energy audit during the pandemic and, this year, an income-qualified residential weatherization program to further expand our services. We recognize that helping customers reduce their energy at home or at their business is good customer service, while also helping us reduce the stress on the grid and our carbon footprint.”
Impactful Incentives
Entergy currently has two energy efficiency programs for its business customers, depending on the utility from which they receive electric service. “Businesses that are Entergy New Orleans electric customers can take advantage of the energy efficiency offerings from the Energy Smart program,” Mills said. “Businesses that are Entergy Louisiana electric customers can utilize the energy efficiency offerings from Entergy Solutions. Both programs provide cash incentives to business customers that make qualifying energy efficiency upgrades in their facilities.”
In fact, all Entergy New Orleans commercial customers can take advantage of Energy Smart program offerings and incentives involving lighting, HVAC improvements, building automation adjustments, compressed air and new construction. Large commercial customers have added benefits, such as retro-commissioning and demand-response programs that provide incentives for temporarily reducing their load during peak times. Meanwhile, small commercial customers can enjoy offerings such as a small business energy assessment and a small business online store.
“Energy Smart’s small business energy assessment is a popular new offering this year,” Mills said. “The energy assessment is free to Entergy New Orleans small business customers. An Energy Smart energy advisor conducts a one-hour walk-through of the small business to evaluate and assess opportunities for energy savings. Once the assessment is completed, the energy advisor will install energy-efficient products — such as LEDs, a smart thermostat, water aerators and pipe wrap — all free of charge. They can also recommend additional projects that can be completed by an Energy Smart trade ally to further reduce their energy use and lower their electric bill.
Moreover, Entergy Louisiana commercial customers can take advantage of Entergy Solutions program offerings and incentives for new construction and agriculture solutions, and the program offerings can be prescribed or customized.
Both the Entergy Solutions and Energy Smart programs provide cash incentives that can cover up to 100 percent of a project’s total cost (depending on the type of upgrades a customer makes). Both programs also offer rebates on Energy Star commercial kitchen equipment, high-efficiency HVAC equipment, motors, controls and LED lighting.
“Entergy takes pride in being a good steward to the communities it serves,” Mills said. “Providing opportunities for customers to reduce energy usage and perhaps lower their energy bills helps reduce the energy burden on residential customers and helps our commercial entities become more profitable. To help customers make energy efficiency upgrades, the programs offer incentives to reduce the costs of energy efficient upgrades.”
Companies can become more energy efficient first by benchmarking their energy use for free using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. This tool allows companies to measure and compare their building’s energy use to similar buildings, past consumption or a reference performance level. Then, companies can upgrade to energy efficient equipment—such as replacing exterior and interior lighting to efficient LEDs, installing lighting and HVAC control systems (such as occupancy sensors and building automation systems) and installing energy efficient commercial kitchen equipment.
“The energy efficiency upgrades reduce energy usage, which in turn reduces monthly utility costs and contributes to the reduction of greenhouse emissions in the city,” Mills said. “Today’s consumers prefer to do business with organizations that are environmentally conscious. Being energy efficient is good for business.”
Participation in the programs is available to all Entergy customers. Entergy New Orleans customers can visit energysmartnola.com or call 504-229-6868 and Entergy Louisiana customers can visit entergysolutionsla.com or call 844-829-1300.
Similarly, Cleco Power also has an energy efficiency program, which it calls Cleco Power Wise. “Recognizing that a small business uses energy quite differently from a large or industrial company, we’ve segmented our commercial programs based on annual peak demand (with less than 100 kW designated as small and more than 100 kW as large),” Sewell said. “Large commercial and industrial customers can use their own contractors to install the equipment, while small commercial customers must use a Cleco approved contractor. Multiple bids are encouraged, and every project is reviewed by a member of the Cleco Power Wise team.”
Financial incentives and kWh savings also are available to customers who replace inefficient equipment. “The incentive is calculated based on what equipment a company is using [as compared] to what they will be replacing it with,” Sewell said. “So, the larger the reduction in energy usage, the larger the incentive.”
For example, small businesses can receive a financial incentive for up to 100 percent of their lighting upgrade, up to $25,000 per building, while large commercial customers can receive a maximum of $35,000 per building. “However, project funding is limited and on a year-to-year basis, so there are no guarantees until the project has been approved,” Sewell said.
In addition to incentives for lighting, HVAC and commercial kitchen equipment upgrades, Cleco Power Wise also has a Custom Commercial program. It offers engineering services for customized energy efficient projects, including motor controls and motor operated valves as well as evaluation measurement and verification projects.
Since the Cleco Power Wise program launched in 2014, it has saved commercial customers more than 65 million kWh, which is the equivalent to providing electricity to 8,963 homes for one year. “We want to provide our customers with solutions that will improve their quality of life, and energy efficiency is one solution that can be felt almost immediately,” Sewell adds.
Cleco Power customers can enroll in the Cleco Power Wise program by emailing energyefficiency@cleco.com or calling 833-373-6842.
Get On Board
Energy Efficiency not only benefits consumers by empowering them to better control their energy usage while maintaining a comfortable environment, but it also benefits the utility provider who must provide reliable and clean energy via an ever-increasing power grid. Energy efficiency also benefits the planet by lowering greenhouse gas emissions. “There’s no downside to becoming energy efficient,” Sewell said. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”
