AVON, Connecticut, June 20, 2002 – The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) and Legere Woodworking, a member of the Legere Group, Ltd., recently partnered in a project that will save the Avon-based company, the state’s largest custom architectural millwork producer, more than six million kilowatt-hours over the lifetime of the project and qualified it for an $112,411 incentive payment.
CL&P’s President and COO Lee Olivier presented a check for that amount to Legere’s Vice President Bill Bruneau, earlier this week at the Avon facility. Incentives are awarded through the Connecticut Energy Conservation Fund that was created by state lawmakers as part of the state’s electric utility restructuring legislation.
“We have nothing but positive words to say about the project and the CL&P team that helped us through the process,” said Vice President Bruneau. “Before the energy efficiency measures were put in place, we were wasting energy, money and a lot of effort.”
Upgrades were made to the company’s dust collection system, which, regardless of how small a job was, had to run at full capacity. Installing efficient variable frequency drives, motorized blast gates in all the exhaust ducting to the production machinery and a centralized energy monitoring and control system allow the company to utilize only as much power as is necessary for production at any given time. Today, in addition to enjoying lower monthly electrical bills, Legere actually can observe how much electricity it is saving through a monitoring unit that was installed as part of the project.
“For a company that feels a serious commitment to technology, this project and becoming a state-of-the-art facility was extremely important. This facility offers room for growth for many years to come so we can continue to meet the needs and expectations of our industry,” Bruneau added.
“I was certainly impressed with what I saw today at this facility,” said CL&P’s Olivier. “I’m happy to say we plan on continuing this important and productive partnership well into the future. The conservation fund that makes projects like this possible enables CL&P to advance our ‘energy efficiency ethic’ and encourage Connecticut customers use energy wisely with an eye on the environment.”
CL&P’s Custom Services program provides technical assistance and cash incentives to medium to large customers who want to save electric energy by upgrading their electrical equipment and processes. CL&P may pay half of an electrical energy study’s up-front costs and will refund the customer’s half once the recommended cost-saving measures are installed. In addition, through the conservation fund, CL&P provides incentives up to the full incremental costs associated with installing the higher efficiency equipment.
Legere’s participation in the Custom Services program is its latest alliance with CL&P. Four years ago, CL&P helped the company cut costs by upgrading its lighting. Legere also is working with CL&P’s PRIME (Process Reengineering for Increased Manufacturing Efficiency) Program to adopt streamlined manufacturing processes and increase efficiency.
For more information on Custom Services or any of CL&P’s energy-saving programs and services, call 1-877-602-SAVE.
The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P), Connecticut’s largest electric utility, provides safe and reliable electric service to more than 1.1 million customers in 149 cities and towns across the state. With 2,300 employees, CL&P offers programs and services in energy conservation, economic development, environmental education, and community relations. CL&P is part of the Northeast Utilities System (NYSE: NU). For more information, please visit www.cl-p.com.
# # #