Helping companies cope with energy costs

Photo | New Haven Biz L-r: Globelé Energy's Alfred Peterson and Kristilee LaHaye, GNHCC's Garrett Sheehan and United Illuminating's Patrick McDonnell at Tuesday mornings energy roundtable at the New Haven chamber.

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By Michael C. Bingham

Representatives of Globelé Energy and the United Illuminating Co were on hand Tuesday morning as the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce hosted an energy roundtable highlighting strategies and tactics companies can use to manage and reduce energy consumption and costs — and bolster their bottom lines.

Kristilee LaHaye of New Haven-based energy management consulting firm Globelé Energy provided an overview of tax benefits and incentives available to owners and managers of commercial buildings for installing energy-efficiency upgrades. Incentives are also available to energy-modeling firms and architecture firms that design, implement and manage energy-efficiency upgrades in commercial buildings.

“Companies can get ahead of the curve with energy consumption benchmarking and commissioning,” LaHaye said.

Patrick McDonnell, vice president of regulatory affairs for the United Illuminating Co. and its Southern Connecticut Gas Co. subsidiary, explained that energy costs in Connecticut and New England are higher than elsewhere in the Northeast because of New England’s location at the “tail end” of the supply pipeline.

Connecticut companies must also deal with an increasingly aggressive regulatory posture on the part of state government to reduce energy consumption and lower their carbon footprints in response to concerns over climate change.

For example, 2019 Connecticut laws have codified a state policy goal to reduce energy consumptions by 1.6 million MMBTUs annually. State laws also created a benchmark target of a 34-percent reduction in emissions from commercial buildings by the year 2030.

To help companies and commercial building owners cope, federal and state tax credits, municipal property-tax exemptions and rebate programs by utility companies are in place to help manage costs — and, ultimately, profitability.

Contact Michael C. Bingham at mbingham@NewHavenBiz.com