Alliant Energy: Boosting energy efficiency at eighteen Wisconsin armories

Media Contact: Scott Reigstad (608) 458-3145

Installed lighting and steam trap upgrades helps save $67,841 per year on energy bills

MADISON, WI – March 16, 2010 – Alliant Energy recently completed a wide-ranging energy-efficiency project that upgraded lighting and steam traps at eighteen different Wisconsin armories across southern Wisconsin, saving an estimated $67,841 annually on the facilities’ energy bills. The work was done under an initiative of Governor Jim Doyle’s called the State of Wisconsin Conserve Wisconsin Energy Saving Performance Contracting Program. Eighty million dollars in state bonding was provided in the Governor’s 2009-2011 budget for this and other energy efficiency projects for state buildings.

“Alliant Energy began taking a serious look at participating in the Performance Contacting Program in 2008,” said Nancy Wills, Alliant Energy Sales Manager. “Once we made the decision to go ahead, we quickly started looking at State of Wisconsin facilities and how we could work with state agencies to make them more energy-efficient.”

Conserve Wisconsin’s Energy Saving Performance Contracting Program (ESPC) provides a method for state agencies to enter into a contract with a qualified Energy Service Company (ESCO) for evaluation and recommendation of cost savings measures. Agencies benefit by reduced overall energy costs and a reduction in energy consumption. To implement the program, the agency enters into a guaranteed energy savings performance contract. Alliant Energy Resources, a non-regulated subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corporation, went through the approval process and became a qualified ESCO in 2008.

“The performance contracting program provides a boost to our economy and a means to accomplish energy reduction goals without spending additional tax dollars” said David Osborn, the Conserve Wisconsin Project Manager. “The expenses are paid through the guaranteed energy savings and the payments are drawn from the state’s utility account that was reduced as a result of the projects.”

For the energy-efficiency projects at the armories, Alliant Energy partnered with two state agencies; the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs and the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA), as well as two subcontractors; Hills Wiring and North American Mechanical Inc., to complete the work.

Additional ESCOs participating in the projects were Energy Performance Specialists, Honeywell, and Johnson Controls. The overall statewide project costs for all the ESCOs were $3,418,824, utilized both state bond funds and federal stimulus dollars, and will save $297,385 annually. The overall energy savings for all lighting and steam trap projects were 2,642,206 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and 59,070 therms of natural gas per year – the equivalent of removing the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 420 passenger vehicles. In addition, 12 jobs were created or retained to finish these projects.

“The Performance Contacting Program is showing great results in saving energy and taxpayer dollars and we are pleased that Alliant Energy and many other businesses have become involved with it,” said David Helbach, DOA Administrator – Division of State Facilities. “Governor Doyle has established aggressive goals to reduce energy use at state facilities and this initiative is one of many tools we are using to reach those goals.”

The Performance Contracting Program is a result of Governor Doyle’s Executive Order 145 which requires state agencies to reduce energy use by 20 percent by the end of the 2010 fiscal year. Over $80 million in state bonds have been made available to help with financing the initiative.

“Clearly, the Performance Contracting Program and the resources that Alliant Energy has at its disposal have proven to be a very effective combination,” added Wills. “We appreciate the opportunity to have such a great partnership with the State of Wisconsin and to help state government save energy and dollars that ultimately benefit Wisconsin taxpayers.”

For more information on the State of Wisconsin Conserve Wisconsin Program, please visit: http://www.conserve.wi.gov/