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Constellation Helps Town of Essex to Reduce Annual Electricity Use

Constellation and the Town of Essex, Mass., today announced the completion of an energy efficient lighting project designed to reduce the town’s electricity consumption by an estimated 85,266 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, more than 14 percent of the town’s usage.

Energy efficient lighting was installed in Essex’s town hall, police and fire station, senior center, water filtration plant and department of public works facility. The upgrades required no upfront investment from the town as part a 48-month electricity supply contract through Constellation’s Efficiency Made Easy program for commercial, industrial and municipal customers.

Additionally, Constellation worked with local utilities to incorporate all eligible rebates into the project. Lenox, Mass.-based ESCO installed the lighting upgrade, which is estimated to avoid the creation of more than 130,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

“Like many municipalities, Essex was struggling to fund critically-needed capital improvements for our buildings,” said Brendhan Zubricki, Essex town administrator. “Constellation’s creative solution allowed us to roll project costs into future power bills and install lighting upgrades before our contract renewal in 2015. As a result, we estimate we’ll save an additional $19,000 in energy costs while staff, residents and visitors now enjoy a greatly improved lighting environment. Constellation’s joint effort with ESCO resulted in a very efficient and minimally disruptive installation. Overall, this has been a very effective solution to the challenges we are facing.”

The town also adopted a flexible electricity procurement program to achieve its energy budget goals. Rather than purchasing all of its power needs at a single point in time, the town will make multiple purchases for various percentages of its future energy usage when market conditions are favorable.

Essex is the first town in Mass., to utilize Constellation’s Efficiency Made Easy through the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s (MMA) MunEnergy program, a collaboration established in 1998 between Constellation and the MMA.

Paul Bockelman, director of administration & finance for the Massachusetts Municipal Association and former town administrator for Manchester-by-the-Sea, added, “This project speaks to how the MunEnergy program is customized to meet the specific challenges facing Massachusetts towns and cities. With Constellation the Massachusetts Municipal Association has an energy partner who can bring its considerable resources to solve budgetary challenges like this one.”

“Constellation is pleased to help the town of Essex meet its environmental goals and reduce energy costs through new, efficient lighting systems coupled with a more forward-thinking electricity purchasing strategy,” said Chris Cantone, vice president and general manager of Constellation’s energy solutions group. “Energy efficiency is essential to any effective energy management strategy. When it comes to managing energy costs the cheapest kilowatt hour is the one that’s never used.”

By BusinessWire

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