Energy visits help businesses spot energy-saving opportunities

Winooski, VT

Efficiency Vermont is offering free energy consultations to Vermont small and medium businesses to uncover savings opportunities that owners are often too busy to notice or address. While businesses work to recover from the economic recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, these consultations can help businesses access new incentive offers, financing solutions, and technical advice to lower their energy costs and make their businesses more resilient in the future.

The consultations can take place over the phone, via video conference (new in response to the COVID-19 pandemic), or in person in limited cases and following strict health and safety protocols.

Benefits of a free energy consultation from Efficiency Vermont include:
• A clear understanding of what systems are wasting energy and money
• A prioritized plan and resources for cost-effective projects
• Increased financial incentives to minimize up-front cost
• Objective recommendations and direct contact from the Efficiency Vermont team for future project needs or questions.

“Small and medium businesses are one of the most diverse customer types we serve, and include everything from non-profit organizations, to restaurants, to small dairy farms,” said Dave Corliss, Efficiency Vermont Director of Account Management. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution for these businesses, so starting with a consultation is key to helping understand a business’s unique challenges and needs.”

Navigating resources
Efficiency Vermont partners with suppliers and distributors to ensure energy-efficient equipment is in stock at discounted prices. New discounts are available on hundreds of products for a range of applications that include:
• Commercial kitchen equipment
• Commercial lighting
• Commercial refrigeration
• Cold climate heat pumps for space heating and cooling
• Ventilation equipment

Many of these efficient technologies may be new and relatively unknown to business owners, but they can bring substantial savings when replacing older, poor performing equipment. This underscores the importance of consulting with an Efficiency Vermont expert.

“The consultation with Efficiency Vermont was extremely valuable and exceeded my expectations,” said Kyle Bellavance, owner of K. Bellavance Landworks and Hauling in Barre. “I wasn’t sure I had time to spend on this, but Efficiency Vermont made it really easy, were very respectful of my time, and pointed out a lot of opportunities to save money that I would never have even thought of.”

Efficiency Vermont has also enhanced its Business Energy Loan program with below market rate interest and deferred payments to help businesses recapture savings in the short-term and improve their cash flow.

Like all Efficiency Vermont programs, these offers are only available while funding lasts. Efficiency Vermont is encouraging small and medium businesses to contact the energy efficiency utility to schedule a consultation as soon as possible, even if they aren’t certain they are ready to move forward with a project. Businesses can schedule their free energy consultation by visiting efficiencyvermont.com/bizconsult or calling (888) 921-5990.

About Efficiency Vermont

As the nation’s first Energy Efficiency Utility, Efficiency Vermont has helped Vermont avoid over 13.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence award for the last eight consecutive years. Efficiency Vermont works with partners to help our state transition to more affordable, low carbon energy use through education, incentives, and support for our clean energy workforce. Learn more at www.efficiencyvermont.com.

Efficiency Vermont Press Contact
Matthew Smith
Phone: (802) 540-7662
[email protected]