More Than $30 Million Available for Energy Efficiency Projects

Southern California Gas Co. announced today that more than $30 million in rebates and incentives are available this year to business customers for qualifying energy-efficiency projects.

The announcement was made at the Gas Co.'s annual Business Expo in Pomona, where a half-dozen local businesses ere recognized for energy efficiency and conservation efforts that collectively have reduced emissions and saved more than 2.5 million therms of natural gas, the equivalent of taking 3,500 cars off the road, according to the utility.

"These businesses have proven that using natural gas efficiently means getting more for less," said Hal D. Snyder, vice president of customer solutions for SoCalGas. "We make every effort to help our customers plan for a sustainable future by providing services and incentives that can positively affect their bottom line."

Air Products and Chemicals Inc. was one of the six firms to receive an Energy-Efficiency Excellence Award for installing a waste heat recovery system that saves the Carson company an estimated 1.1 million therms per year in energy.

Air Products and Chemicals qualified for SoCalGas' Energy Efficiency Calculated Incentive Program and received a $543,432 incentive check for its energy efficiency efforts.

Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena was honored for achieving a reduction in energy costs by operating steam-powered absorption chillers,
upgrading to direct digital controls, installing pipe insulation and adding new
heat exchanger controls.

"These new energy efficiency improvements are saving us over 578,000 therms per year in energy," said Thomas Romeyn, the hospital's director of plant services. "SoCalGas was critical in helping us achieve our clean energy goals. Because of our energy-efficiency upgrades, we qualified to receive an incentive check for $315,266 from the utility."

SoCalGas' incentives cover many types of natural gas equipment, as well as energy saving projects, with incentive payouts based on the amount of natural gas saved and often reaching several thousands of dollars per project.

For more information, visit the utility's website.