Three businesses honored for energy efficiency efforts

Three local businesses received recognition for efforts to become more energy efficient at the Hometown Rewards awards luncheon on Wednesday.

Hometown Rewards Community Coordinator Jackie Boat presented the awards to McCall Monument, Newton Enterprises and Newton Water Pollution Control for their work to save more than 440,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year and further the city toward its energy efficiency goals.

The Hometown Rewards program, through Alliant Energy, rewards Iowa communities for cutting back energy use. Since partnering with the City of Newton in 2015, it has established three goals and at this point have achieved two with the third in progress.

To begin, it worked to engage 25 percent of commercial/industrial customers through energy assessments or rebates. The program also worked to reduce energy consumption from government buildings/operations by 8 percent. Both of those goals have been accomplished in two years. A goal in progress is to increase in MMBtu saved through rebates by 10 percent for the commercial/industrial sector.

All three of the businesses awarded have contributed to the success of the program and worked to move Newton further down the path of energy efficiency.

“It’s our turn to acknowledge business and industry,” Boat said.

McCall Monument was awarded for its efforts to reduce energy by installing new lighting throughout its facility. From new LED lighting in the showroom to sensor controlled lighting in the warehouse, the business is saving 24,455 KWh per year.

“McCall has been a part of the Newton community for a long time and they seem to be dedicated to making it a better place,” Boat said.

Newton Enterprises, which is housed in the former Maytag campus, undertook a very large project by replacing variable frequency drives. By replacing the drives the company save 40,669 KWh per year, a substantial energy and monetary savings.

Finally, Newton Water Pollution Control at the Newton Wastewater Treatment Plant undertook the largest project by replacing both variable frequency drives and LED lighting in the facility. Newton Director of Public Works Keith Laube said by replacing the lights with LED, those at the treatment plant are able to easily turn them on and off with a lag period waiting for them to warm up to full strength.

“We are probably saving roughly $2,000 in lighting costs,” Laube said. “The new LED lights, we can turn them off and then if we get called in the middle of the night we can turn them on and they come on really quickly.”

Through the updates, the treatment plant is saving 377,198 KWh per year or more than $12,000.

All recipient received a framed certificate for their efforts to make Newton a more energy efficient community.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com