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.”

As a NAESCO-accredited energy services provider, Constellation has helped commercial customers and public agencies throughout the United States to implement energy efficiency programs. Customers interested in energy efficiency and environmental solutions may contact Constellation at 1-866-237-7693 or EfficiencyMadeEasy@Constellation.com.

About Constellation

Constellation is a leading competitive retail supplier of power, natural gas and energy products and services for homes and businesses across the continental United States. Constellation’s family of retail businesses serves more than 100,000 business and public sector customers, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100, and more than 1 million residential customers. Baltimore-based Constellation is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with 2013 revenues of approximately $24.9 billion, and more than 35,000 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. Learn more at www.constellation.com or on Twitter at @ConstellationEG.

About ESCO Energy Services Company

Since 1992, ESCO has been an industry leader in delivering turnkey, energy-efficient lighting products via individualized retrofit solutions. Based in Lenox, Mass., ESCO maximizes energy savings and improves light quality with minimal operational disruption. ESCO services include presentations and educational seminars, building surveys, design engineering, savings and rebate analysis, light-level verification and turnkey installation with professional project management. Exclusively for Amerinet members, ESCO will process Free Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT) tax incentive paperwork. To learn more, visit www.goesco.com.