SDG&E is required to spend $278 million between 2010 and 2012 on energy efficiency programs. And, unlike years past where the money was spent on things like light-bulb giveaways, the focus now is on making buildings operate more efficiently.
Many people think the company makes more money when it sells more power, said Mitch Mitchell, an SDG&E vice president. "We don't," he said. In fact, the California Public Utilities Commission has set up incentives designed to get the company to reduce the amount of power used, which in turn reduces how many power plants and transmission lines are needed.
Small businesses are difficult to reach, Mitchell said. Unlike a large store, where there's a person whose only job is to make sure the building is well run, owners of small businesses have many jobs, only one of which is facilities manager. So in North Park, and soon in Encinitas and other communities, SDG&E is working with business improvement districts to go door to door to offer the free retrofits.
That fits with the missions of such organizations, designed to help businesses through promotion and other programs, said Liz Studebaker, executive director of North Park Main Street.
Matthew Cirello's gallery in San Diego's North Park neighborhood, with blown glass and hand-made jewelry, had 50 incandescent bulbs replaced with new fluorescent ones. The gallery is cooler, with the temperature low enough that air conditioning isn't needed as often. Another benefit is that the gallery is also brighter. Cirello has not had a chance to see the impact on his bill, but he knows the new lights are drawing less power, because he no longer has to turn off banks of lights to run a jewelry polishing machine. Some of the new bulbs run on a quarter of the power as the ones they replaced, said Rolf Hains, a field supervisor with Matrix Energy Services, the SDG&E subcontractor that is doing the energy makeovers.
At Urban Solace, a restaurant on 30th Street, energy is a big part of the cost of doing business, according to chef and co-owner Matt Gordon. And while his staff works on making sure equipment is well maintained, "there's a limit to how well we can do it ourselves," he said. Improvements included cleaning the condenser of a wine refrigerator. Dust inside meant the unit had to work harder just to do the same job. Workers also changed filters, insulated pipes, checked refrigerant levels and changed lighting where possible.
The Birch North Park Theatre was the largest building to undergo a makeover. There, workers checked out the air conditioning, fixed water heaters and changed some lighting.
It's too soon to tell the financial impact of most of the retrofits, but every reduction in energy costs helps businesses survive.
To get a small-business energy makeover and find out more about energy efficiency programs, contact:
SDG&E: www.sdge.com/business/rebatesincentives
Matrix Energy Services: http://www.mobileenergyclinic.com/ or 1-800-556-2123
State of California: http://www.coolcalifornia.org/