WPPI announces grant recipients for energy efficiency bidding

From a media release issued by WPPI:

WPPI recently awarded $185,000 in grants for energy efficiency projects to various business and municipal customers served by WPPI member utilities.

WPPI’s RFP for Energy Efficiency is aimed at making electric energy saving projects a worthwhile business investment for large power customers. Large commercial and industrial customers of WPPI’s member communities are invited to submit competitive proposals for cost-effective, energy saving upgrades to equipment and systems within their current facilities.

Grant incentives were awarded to four companies in the fourth round of RFP for Energy Efficiency bidding:

* Community Memorial Hospital, a customer of Oconto Falls Municipal Utilities, was awarded $35,000 for an energy-saving upgrade to the central chiller plant to provide air conditioning and dehumidification to the hospital’s Primary Care Clinic.

* Village of Little Chute, a customer of Kaukauna Utilities, will receive $50,960 to offset the costs of upgrading the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system on one of its wells and to install variable speed drives on two other wells. A SCADA system collects data from various sensors at a factory or plant and sends the data to a central computer which manages and controls the data. Adding a variable speed drive to a motor-driven system can offer energy savings in a system in which the loads vary during use.

* Madison-Kipp Corporation, a customer of Sun Prairie Water & Light, will receive $72,000 to replace two existing air compressors with a new high efficiency variable speed drive air compressor to regulate air pressure with reduced cost.

* Johnsonville Sausage, a customer of Plymouth Utilities, was awarded $27,000 to replace two bi-parting freezer doors with two air conditioned air curtain systems. The new air curtain system will create a vestibule to condition the air. These systems save energy, reduce moisture and help maintain the temperature of high usage freezer doorways. . . .

WPPI anticipates awarding up to $500,000 in additional RFP for Energy Efficiency grants this year, with $250,000 in funding available for each bidding cycle. The most recent round of bidding was completed in July, and incentive grants will be awarded in August. A subsequent round of bidding will close on Nov. 7, with awards granted in December.