Xcel Energy Extends T12 Rebates Until April!

Also published on prlog.com

By Matt Versteeg, Updated: Dec 12, 2011

Well if you missed out on the 2011 T12 to T8 bonus rebates, you’re in luck, because Xcel Energy just extended the 150% rebate amount multiplier until March 31st, 2012! That means that the $22 rebate for retrofitting a 4-lamp 4’ T12 to T8 is going to be $33 until the end of March. If your facility has 1000 of these fixtures, there is an $11,000 difference in the amount of rebate money that you will receive if you wait until the rebates drop back down in April. The Department of Energy has mandated that on July 14th, 2012, most T12 lamps will no longer be for sale in the United States. I’m sure there will be some sort of loop-hole light bulb, but the price is going to be high. If your company doesn’t retrofit now, you’re going to do it later—whether it’s one fixture at a time or when you sell your property while you’re trying to comply with the new electrical code. Link to the actual mandate: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standard ...

If you still have T12 fluorescent light fixtures, now is the time to replace them because there are rebates available for businesses that still need to make the transition to T8 or T5. There are a couple different ways that I recommend to take advantage of this free money:

The obvious (and most expensive) solution is to replace the old light fixtures with new, energy efficient fixtures. If new light fixtures are something that interests you, there’s a lot of rebate money out there for you to do this. The good thing about this new efficient lighting is the fact that the light output is much better, so we would be able to install a smaller number of fixtures than we would be replacing. Now, Xcel Energy doesn’t have prescriptive rebates for this type of lighting upgrade, but that doesn’t mean that rebates aren’t available. Using the custom efficiency program that Franklin Energy and Xcel Energy developed, I can usually get a larger rebate than their prescriptive program will provide. Heritage Electric and I have done several of these reconfigurations (finding fixtures to remove), and had enormous success both with upfront costs, future energy savings, and of course—satisfied customers.

The other solution is my favorite—the lighting retrofit. With an energy efficient lighting retrofit, the old light fixture does not need to be replaced. Instead we remove the old, inefficient ballasts and lamps (bulbs), and replace them with the new electronic ballasts and more efficient lamps. The efficient lighting retrofit is the most popular type of lighting upgrade because it’s the most cost-effective solution. Why would you replace the entire fixture if there is absolutely no reason to trash a still-functional light fixture? Here's the list of the rebate amounts that Xcel Energy is offering to qualifying businesses: http://www.heselectric.com/energy-rebates.html. (Remember to multiply the rebate amount per fixture by 1.5)

My name is Matt Versteeg, and I am the lighting efficiency consultant at Heritage Electric, an electrical repair comany in Denver. It is my job to design your efficient lighting upgrade to your specifications while pushing for the largest rebates possible. There are so many different types of configurations possible while making your lights more efficient, and we’ve proven ourselves time and time again that we can get you the best possible lights at the best possible price. Call me for a free lighting efficiency audit: (303) 368-1100. Our website is http://www.HESelectric.com