Nobody needs to convince Jim Pearson about what can happen when a company or individual switches to energy-efficient light fixtures. When he and his wife changed fixtures at their home in Bethalto, they saw major savings.
So when his company replaced all the fixtures where he worked, he knew it would light up the bottom line.
Pearson manages the R.P. Lumber store in Granite City, where 138 energy-efficient fixtures were installed early last year.
"We're seeing some good savings on that," said Pearson, whose store is at 3523 Illinois Route 162.
Because of the work, R.P. Lumber was one of 28 Granite City companies that earned cash incentives from Ameren Illinois through its ActOnEnergy conservation. The businesses received a total of more than $425,000 in incentive payments between June 1, 2010, and May 31, 2011.
For that work, Ameren Illinois presented its ActOnEnergy Most Progressive City Award to Granite City on Jan. 24.
Granite City won the award because it showed the greatest drop usage as a result of the program in Ameren Illinois Region 5. That includes East St. Louis, Edwardsville, East St. Louis, Carlinville, Glen Carbon and Litchfield.
Among the companies that received incentive payments were U.S. Steel Co., which did 13 energy conservation projects, and Gateway Regional Medical Center, which did six projects.
Other projects that received incentives were at a supermarket, convenience stores, factories and restaurants.
The projects are saving Granite City businesses 9.13 million kilowatt-hours of energy a year, enough for 913 single family houses, according to a news release.
The R.P. Lumber store in Granite City was one of 30 of the company's stores where lights were replaced.
"You could see much better lighting with the new energy efficient lights than you could with the old," said Robert Plummer, owner of the lumber store chain.
Another Granite City firm that received incentives was the Si Senor Mex Mex Grill, 1533 Johnson Road, Granite City.
Owner Hector Leon spent $27,000 on such energy reductions as a new furnace and air conditioner, new lighting and a nozzle to cut use of hot water in dishwashing. He estimates bills for electricity and gas have dropped from $2,200 a month last year to $1,500 to $1,600 now. "We're paying a lot less," Leon said.
And at Dempsey-Adams Car Star, an auto body at 1837 Madison Ave., the average electric dropped about 15 percent after old lights were replaced in an effort to receive an incentive.
"We're seeing, on average, probably a savings of about $300 bucks a month," manager Robert Waymire said.
Contact reporter Jim Merkel at 618-344-0264, ext 138
