SYRACUSE — Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) has reduced its energy usage and environmental impact by implementing energy-efficient interior and exterior lighting upgrades at 28 facilities throughout its four-county water-service area in Central New York. The lighting upgrades, completed by SmartWatt Energy, Inc. via the National Grid Small Business Services Program, have reduced OCWA’s energy […]
SYRACUSE — Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) has reduced its energy usage and environmental impact by implementing energy-efficient interior and exterior lighting upgrades at 28 facilities throughout its four-county water-service area in Central New York.
The lighting upgrades, completed by SmartWatt Energy, Inc. via the National Grid Small Business Services Program, have reduced OCWA’s energy consumption by 167,807 kWh, according to a news release from SmartWatt Energy, an energy-efficiency firm headquartered in the Albany area. That’s equivalent to removing an estimated 261,019 pounds of carbon dioxide from the environment per year, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculations.
SmartWatt said it performed a complimentary energy analysis of all interior and exterior lighting and proposed a plan to replace the existing inefficient lighting systems with energy-efficient fluorescent and LED lighting fixtures at 28 of OCWA’s facilities. In addition to substantial energy and maintenance-cost savings, the lighting upgrades resulted in a National Grid rebate of $40,036 and are expected to pay for themselves in about 20 months, SmartWatt said, citing National Grid estimates.
SmartWatt said it is the administrator and implementation contractor for National Grid’s Small Business Services Program in Central and Northern New York. The Small Business Services Program helps businesses with an average peak demand of 100 kW or less per month conduct energy-efficient upgrade measures, according to the news release.
Through this program, SmartWatt said it will provide a free energy analysis, and National Grid will pay up to 70 percent of the installation costs completed by SmartWatt and finance the remaining amount interest-free for up to two years.
SmartWatt Energy said it provides “turnkey solutions for utilities, commercial, industrial, and institutional clients and also develops proprietary software that streamlines internal workflow processes and provides comprehensive program reporting.”
SmartWatt has three divisions: a commercial, industrial and institutional division; a utility unit; and a software-development division.
