Billings, Mont. - July 8, 2013 - NorthWestern Energy presented the City of Billings with $361,431 in E+ Efficiency Plus Commercial Lighting rebates for High-Efficiency Lighting Design retrofits in the city's parking garages ($227,428.50) and at Logan International Airport ($134,002.70).  An additional $161,316 in rebates is pending for lighting projects at the City Hall, Park III and the Billings Operations Center (BOC) to be completed later this year.  All these projects result in a combined total of $522,747 in rebates.

The benefits for the city extend beyond the rebates, as all these projects are estimated to reduce energy consumption by 242 kilowatts (kW) in monthly demand and save over 2.589 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per year; an amount roughly equal to the average electric usage of 3,450 homes for a month. 

To qualify for these High-Efficiency Lighting Design rebates, the city was required to install energy-efficient lighting and controls throughout the buildings involved in these projects. Thousands of pieces of energy saving equipment, including T5 fluorescent lights, electronic ballasts, hard-wired CFL fixtures and occupancy/daylight sensors were installed in Park I and II Parking Garages, the Airport Terminal and the ARFF (Operations) buildings. 

These lighting projects were initiated several years ago by a team composed of city staff, utility representatives and consultants working together to identify energy savings.  The team included Saree Couture, Mark Evangeline and Boris Krizek from the City of Billings, Dave Bausch and Debbie Singer with NorthWestern Energy, Dave Houser with the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), Justin Hyatt with DNV KEMA Energy & Sustainability; and McKinstry Essention, Inc., who is the performance contracting company that conducted the energy audit study of the facilities. Local contractors completed the majority of the construction and installation of the energy saving equipment.

The city and NorthWestern Energy have worked in partnership to improve the energy efficiencies in city facilities, and reduce energy consumption while reducing operating costs.  "The City of Billings has been a leader in energy management for years, by looking for opportunities to save energy, participate in the utility's energy efficiency rebates and alternative energy programs," said Deborah Singer, NorthWestern Energy's Senior Key Account and Economic Development Specialist.

In addition to the recent lighting projects, several previous city energy efficiency projects qualified for nearly $593,000 in NorthWestern Energy rebates, credits, grants or incentives, including these projects.

  • Since 1999, the City of Billings has utilized $409,677 in Large Customer Universal System Benefit (USB) credits to install energy-efficient motor equipment at the Wastewater and Water Treatment Plants, Water Pumping Stations and a lighting project at the BOC. 
  • The city received a $45,000 NorthWestern Energy E+ Business Partners rebate for the Public Works Street/Traffic Department's installation of LED red/green traffic signal lights and pedestrian signage at intersections throughout the city in 2005-2006.
  • The airport received $10,663 in rebates in 2012 for installing variable frequency motor drives and a lighting project.
  • An energy efficient HVAC equipment upgrade at City Hall in 2008 and energy efficient lighting projects at Fire Stations 1 & 4 (2005 and 2011) resulted in $5,784 in rebates.
  • The city received a total of $121,823 in NorthWestern Energy E+Renewable Energy Grants for the installation of 10.7 kW in solar photovoltaic systems at Fire Stations 3 & 6, the Billings Parks & Recreation Community Center and the downtown MET Transit Center.
  • In addition, city staff have attended NorthWestern Energy's training programs including; E+ Green Motors, Building Operators Certification, and Commercial Lighting. Staff recently participated in an intensive yearlong cohort activity with other NorthWestern Energy customers to incorporate strategic energy management practices into the operations of city facilities.

NorthWestern Energy congratulates the City of Billings on these recent energy-efficient lighting retrofits of their facilities.  NorthWestern Energy has been offering energy efficiency programs for more than 30 years in Montana, and provides thousands of rebates through their E+ Efficiency Plus programs for commercial and residential customers. For a complete listing of programs go to www.northwesternenergy.com/eplus. 

About NorthWestern Energy (NYSE: NWE)
NorthWestern Energy provides electricity and natural gas in the Upper Midwest and Northwest, serving approximately 673,200 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.www.northwesternenergy.com.

Media Contact:
Debbie Singer
(406) 655-2550
Deborah.Singer@northwestern.com

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