AEP OHIO SOLUTION PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT:
The Energy Solution Group
Educating Customers Means Reducing Operating Costs
As its name suggests, The Energy Solution Group is a provider of energy saving solutions. It deals in lighting, day lighting, and Variable Speed Drives (VSD’s) for motors, pumps, fans; supporting all types of systems and technologies that make a customer more energy efficient. The company takes a business-focused approach, treating each solution as a business decision that needs to make sense to the customer’s Operations Team, as well as their CFO.
With 20+ years in business, The Energy Solution Group has seen changes in energy savings trends, an increased interest in all things ‘green,’ and its share of up-and-down economies. They have adapted to these changes to provide the highest quality solution at the best economic advantage for their customers.
The introduction of the AEP Ohio Business Incentives program opened up a new world of opportunities. In February 2010, The Energy Solution Group had a lone sales person. A little over a year later there are over 15 employees with a national reach.
Although headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, they currently have customers in many states, including California, Washington, North Carolina, Iowa, Vermont, Alabama, and many others.
“The fact that utilities are being mandated by the Ohio legislature to enforce energy efficiency programs has legitimized the idea of incentives to our customers. Otherwise, they wouldn’t believe it,” said Andrew Barnett, account manager for The Energy Solution Group. “The AEP Ohio incentives allow us to close deals we would not have closed. Our sales have increased approximately 25 percent because of this program.”
The predominant reason most energy efficiency projects go forward is because customers want to reduce operating costs. The incentives from AEP Ohio are helping push customers to act now, instead of waiting; especially because there is a daily cost associated with waiting. The Energy Solution Group prides itself on identifying this cost reduction opportunity to potential customers.
“The AEP Ohio Business Incentives program has expanded and improved since we began using it,” added Barnett. “That has helped overcome many of the objections we’ve encountered.”
The Energy Solution Group is conservative in its energy savings estimates, so most customers are surprised when they see their electric bills decreasing more than expected. Maintenance savings, better lighting quality, and improved working environments – while sometimes hard to quantify, are a few of the indirect benefit to many projects.
Distribution centers, manufacturing facilities, office buildings, healthcare facilities, retail, parking lots/garages, and schools are prime opportunities for the company.
Future Plans
The Energy Solution Group has plans for continued growth as more states continue adopting energy efficiency goals. They have mastered the art of discovering customer needs and delivering a solution that meets – or exceeds – those needs. When customers interested in energy efficiency don’t know where to begin, The Energy Solution Group is capable of walking them through the entire process.
The Energy Solution Group looks for customers with multiple locations in areas that offer utility incentive programs for maximizing efficiency and delivering low cost solutions. The primary obstacle to initiating a project is – as expected – capital. Raising the required capital may be difficult, but with incentives to off-set some of the cost and utility bill savings, the payback period can be greatly reduced. The Energy Solution Group has also partnered to offer financing programs to overcome this burden.
“We are seeing many projects with a payback of less than three years – many better than that. It makes so much financial sense to move forward with these opportunities. The challenge is getting the opportunity to audit a facility, which we do at no cost to our customers, to determine the financial math behind the solution, said Tom Anderson, CEO of the Energy Solution Group. “Many companies know they want to do something ‘green’, but they don’t know how to do it or where to get help. That is what The Energy Solution provides.”
Despite this, there are many who are unaware of the opportunity that The Energy Solution Group brings to its customers. “You would be amazed by how many people still do not know about the (AEP Ohio Business Incentives) program. There are contractors we come across that aren’t utilizing it as part of their business,” added Anderson.
Contact Information
Thomas D. Anderson
Founder/CEO
cell (614) 419-0040
direct (614) 423-6758
office (800) 580-4432 ext. 302
fax (800) 658-1421
937 Burrell Avenue
Columbus, OH 43212
Industry
All Commercial, Industrial and Non-Profit Sectors
Measures practiced
Lighting
Motors & Pumps
Variable Frequency Drives
Total applications submitted (2011):
55
Total incentives submitted
$417,055.00
Total energy savings
4,819,970 kWh
Program Type
Custom
Prescriptive
Self-Direct
About AEP Ohio’s energy efficiency programs for businesses
AEP Ohio’s gridSMART® initiative provides incentives to help business customers purchase and install energy efficient equipment. Prescriptive incentives are available for common commercial and industrial measures including lighting, HVAC, motors and drives, refrigeration and food preparation and storage equipment. Custom incentives are available for process improvements and other measures not covered through prescriptive incentives. For more information, visit gridSMARTOhio.com or call 1-877-607-0739.
Disclaimer: AEP Ohio does not guarantee the energy savings and does not make any warranties associated with the measures eligible for incentives under this program.
gridSMARTOhio.com
877-607-0739
