TROY, Mo. (Aug. 16, 2021) – Lincoln County students and teachers will return to brighter hallways and classrooms, more efficient heating and cooling, and significant cost savings thanks to energy efficiency upgrades from Ameren Missouri's BizSavers Program.
“By working with Ameren Missouri, we were able to make energy efficiency upgrades that will reduce our energy bill by about $294,000 a year,” said Todd Culbertson, assistant superintendent of facilities and operations at Lincoln County R-III. “Those savings give us the opportunity to reallocate funding to other areas that can have a significant impact on our students and their education.”
Lincoln County R-III School District earned more than $350,000 in cash incentives from Ameren Missouri by completing 51 projects at 10 school buildings. Projects included updating thousands of fluorescent fixtures to LED lighting, which saves up to 50% in energy costs compared to fluorescent. The district also installed advanced HVAC systems to reduce energy waste, and new water loop heat pumps and water heaters that use 15% less energy.
“We’re proud to partner with schools to become more energy-efficient, so they can spend less keeping the lights on and invest more in their students’ education,” said Rich Wright, manager of energy efficiency at Ameren Missouri. “We know that schools, businesses and nonprofit organizations see immediate returns when they take advantage of these incentives to reduce up-front costs on smart energy upgrades.”
Since 2018, Missouri schools have saved more than $7.9 million on their energy statements and conserved more than 91 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity as a direct result of energy efficiency upgrades. That's enough electricity to power nearly 7,800 homes for a full year. Ameren Missouri helped offset the districts' installation costs by providing more than $12.5 million in incentives.
As part of its BizSavers program, Ameren Missouri provides cash incentives for energy efficiency upgrades, such as LED lighting, high-efficiency HVAC and refrigeration systems, commercial-grade cooking equipment, motor controls/variable frequency drives and much more. The program is one of more than 26 energy efficiency programs offered by Ameren Missouri to help residential and commercial customers reduce energy costs. Ameren Missouri expects to invest $226 million over the life of its energy efficiency programs, which in turn would provide $592 million in benefits for customers. Visit AmerenMissouriSavings.com to learn about easy savings opportunities and AmerenMissouri.com/BizSavers to see how your business can save.
Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years, and the company's electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. Ameren Missouri's mission is to power the quality of life for its 1.2 million electric and 132,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. The company's service area covers 64 counties and more than 500 communities, including the greater St. Louis area. For more information, visit Ameren.com/Missouri or follow us on Twitter at @AmerenMissouri or Facebook.com/AmerenMissouri.