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Sierra Pacific Power is distributing approximately $1 million in incentive payments to more than 60 northern Nevada businesses and government agencies that have invested in energy efficiency. 

The energy efficiency upgrades made during 2006 are expected to save up to 40.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, or enough to power 4,755 homes for a year, said John Hargrove, energy efficiency and conservation manager for Sierra Pacific Power.
  
All those receiving payments participated in the utility's 2006 Nevada SureBet Program, which provides incentives to commercial electricity customers for making energy efficiency improvements to their facilities. Payment totals were based on the amount of energy saved.
 
The 2006 Nevada SureBet incentives ranged from a few hundred dollars to $100,000. They were presented for a variety of projects, from the installation of energy efficient aeration equipment at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility in Sparks to LED lights in the new marquee for Grand Sierra Resort& Casino in Reno, and sensors that automatically turn off lights and appliances when rooms for visiting Navy personnel are unoccupied at the U.S. Naval Air Station near Fallon.

“The easiest, most cost-effective way to reduce your energy bill is to use less energy, which is the goal of the SureBet program,” Hargrove said. “Without the financial incentives available through the program, we know that many of these projects would not have been implemented.”

Among customers taking advantage of the 2006 Nevada SureBet program were mining companies, hotel-casinos, day care facilities, retail businesses, restaurants and the cities of Reno, Sparks, Carson City and Elko.

Hargrove said that technical experts work with the customers to determine how they can retrofit their facilities with energy efficient lights and other equipment, and help them calculate the benefits of the improvements so they can decide whether to invest their dollars.

Many of the participants in the 2006 program retrofitted facilities with energy efficient fluorescent lights, motors or sensors that can automatically switch off lights or equipment when they're not in use.

The City of Sparks received $100,000 from Sierra Pacific for installing LED traffic signals and making energy efficiency improvements at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF), which is jointly owned by the cities of Reno and Sparks, but operated by Sparks.

TMWRF installed an alternative aeration technology, which allowed the facility to remove three mixing pumps. They also upgraded three blowers for an annual energy savings of approximately 1.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity.

The Grand Sierra Resort& Casino received a $100,000 incentive for installing a state-of-the-art, energy efficient marquee in front of the resort along Highway 395. The 2,904 square foot sign is the largest double-faced electronic LED sign in the U.S. Because it uses more energy efficient lights than the sign it replaced, it's expected to save approximately 10 million kilowatt hours annually.

By replacing 866 metal halide lighting fixtures with energy efficient T5 fluorescent fixtures and lights, IGT in Reno is expected to reduce the company's annual electricity usage by up to 3.2 million kilowatt hours. IGT received a $100,000 incentive for the lighting retrofit project.

Sierra Pacific Power's Nevada SureBet program is administered by KEMA, Inc., an international energy consulting firm. The energy efficiency incentive program was introduced in 2003 and has been fully subscribed every year.  For more information about the program, visitwww.nevadasurebet.comor call (800) 342-6335.