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Colorado Springs Utilities will end its rebate program to incentivize businesses to convert to LED lighting later this year.

A graph shows participation in the incentive program meant to encourage businesses to convert to LED lights dropping over time. The number used for 2022 is based on a doubling on participation during the first half of the year. 

Colorado Springs Utilities will end its rebate program to incentivize businesses to convert to LED lighting later this year.

It's easy to feel good about screwing in a LED light bulb, knowing you are saving electricity and money. The benefits to the whole community rise when large warehouses and other industry buildings convert to LEDs, a trend industry representatives say could slow with the end of a Colorado Springs Utilities incentive program. 

Utilities announced in June its commercial LED rebate program would end Nov. 15. It's a short window when lighting projects can take three to four months, SunBright LED Systems President Richard Spreier said. Spreier and other companies made their case for an extension of the program. 

The announcement came like a "a thunderbolt from the mountain," and he expects it will delay LED conversion in businesses across town, with many companies choosing to convert one light fixture at a time instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on all-new lights. The rebates encouraged businesses to convert because they covered a percentage of the cost of a full conversion. 

Utilities officials disagree, saying the rebates are no longer needed because businesses are coming in for rebates after deciding to convert. Interest in the program that has provided about $15 million in rebates to about 2,000 businesses since 2012 and has been slowing on its own, spokesman Steve Berry said in an email. 

Spreier said the low participation is more related to low awareness about the program and ease of use. He estimates that the vast majority of older commercial space still uses old, inefficient lighting. 

"One of the most important services we offer is the ability to navigate the CSU program and actually get the rebate. We do this for other electrical contractors that have thrown up their hands," he said. 

Spreier noted that rather than ending its LED-lighting rebate program, Xcel Energy has expanded it. Xcel Energy serves utilities to eight states, including Colorado. 

Xcel has seen a good amount of participation in its rebate programs because they can help offset rising material and labor costs, company spokeswoman Lacey Nygard said in an email. Currently, Xcel is offering bonus rebates of 50% on LED tubes and 25% on some equipment, she said. 

Spreier's company asked Utilities to consider extending the rebate program, but there has been no interest in negotiations, he said.  

A graph shows participation in the incentive program meant to encourage businesses to convert to LED lights dropping over time. The number used for 2022 is based on a doubling on participation during the first half of the year. 

The department of Utilities that provides the rebates has had its budget significantly cut and this was the best way to handle those cuts, Rich Swope, an engineer from Utilities, told Spreier in an email. 

Utilities does not expect to save money overall, Berry said. Instead, funding will be focused on programs to help residents transition away from appliances that rely on natural gas to those that run on electricity that can be generated through renewable sources and programs to benefit residents with low incomes. 

Utilities also is setting up two new programs to encourage energy efficiency in businesses that probably will be fully up and running until 2024, Gabe Caunt, manager for demand side management and distributed energy strategies, said in an email.

The agency expects to spend $170,000 on both programs next year, and most of that money will be spent on hiring contracts and setting up the programs, he said. Contractors are expected to perform energy analyses for companies and provide recommendations to businesses services Utilities will cover. Businesses must then pay for changes. 

One program will be focused on retrofitting businesses with on-site audits that will help them adjust how building equipment is controlled and reduce energy use and energy demand at specific times.

A second program will help incentivize businesses to construct new buildings at higher standards by providing energy use and demand modeling during the design phase, which can be cheaper than retrofitting a building. The budget for rebates will be designed around the interest Utilities sees in 2023, Caunt said.

Rebates will be provided based on actual savings, Berry said in an email. 

Contact the writer at mary.shinn@gazette.com or 719-429-9264.

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