Contact: Karl Walquist (775) 834-3891

Sears Holdings, Inc. has earned a $154,900 incentive fromNV Energy's Sure Bet programfor energy efficiency improvements at its Kmart Distribution Center in Sparks on South McCarran Boulevard.

Sears Holdings qualified for the incentive by redesigning the lighting for the huge distribution center, upgrading the building's fluorescent lights to more efficient models, and reducing the number of fixtures from 5,270 to 3,787. The company also installed sensors to automatically switch off fixtures in unoccupied areas.

The lighting improvements will reduce the distribution center's annual electricity consumption by 4.2 million kilowatt hours, or enough energy to serve approximately 467 households in northern Nevada for a year. The project will reduce the facility's carbon footprint by 3,150 tons per year -- the equivalent of taking 525 cars off the road.

The lighting project was spearheaded by EMC, LLC, a lighting company headquartered in Minneapolis.

"This was an excellent project and Sears really appears to have been aggressive in working with EMC to identify the best possible solutions for their facility,"said Mary Ann Sheehan, program manager for energy efficiency and conservation at NV Energy. She said it was the second largest incentive awarded in northern Nevada since the start of the Sure Bet program five years ago.

Sure Bet is an incentive program that focuses on helping businesses use energy wisely. The program offers both standardized and custom incentives to commercial electricity customers. In addition, the program offers technical services to help assess energy saving opportunities.

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