Energy Audit Program

Overview

The SMPDC Energy Audit Program ran from 2021 to 2024 and provided subsidized energy audits to small businesses and agricultural producers in the SMPDC region. Energy audits identified energy efficiency and renewable energy projects to reduce operating costs and increase productivity, occupant comfort, and safety. The audits estimated implementation costs, potential energy and financial savings, as well as a return-on-investment.

The program provided a total of $80,000 in energy audit subsidies to 18 businesses across Maine, empowering southern Maine small business and agricultural producers to implement energy efficiency upgrades that reduce energy consumption, utility costs, and fossil fuel emissions. Overall, the program helped to support energy independence and resilience in southern Maine.

 

What is an Energy Audit?

An energy audit is often the first step in making a commercial building more efficient. It analyses all aspects of a building’s energy use, including:

• Space Heating and Cooling
• Lighting systems
• Other power systems (such as exhaust fans or hot water heating)
• Plug/industrial/process loads
• Building envelope (the exterior of the building, and its resistance to air, water, heat, etc.)

A commercial energy audit provides a clear breakdown of how, where, and when electricity is used in your building, as well as the current electric costs and how they apply to the facility and its uses. It can also be tailored to specific energy concerns in the facility.

 

Increasing efficiency – Putting your energy audit data to use

Based on the data collected during the energy audit, SMPDC worked with the energy auditor to prepare an Energy Audit Report. The report included recommended Energy Efficiency Measures that could be next steps to maximize long-term cost savings and minimize energy efficiency consumption. It also included recommended resources for financing energy efficiency improvements, such as:

• Cash incentives through Efficiency Maine’s Commercial and Industrial Prescriptive Incentive Program
• Project funding through Efficiency Maine’s Commercial and Industrial Custom Program
• Grant funding through USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans & Grants program.

 

Example energy efficiency measures include:

• Lighting retrofits, including lamp replacement and delamping
• Adding variable speed drives to fans and pumps
• Control changes, enhancements, and repairs
• Replacement of package HVAC units to high efficiency models
• Upgrading to ENERGY STAR equipment

 

Available Funding

• Using funds from USDA, SMPDC covered 75% of the cost of the energy audit. The business was responsible for paying the remaining 25% of the audit cost.
• The total cost of the audit was dependent on the size and complexity of the facilities included.

 

Eligibility

Eligible agricultural producers and small businesses met the following criteria:

• Be a for-profit business with a place of business in Maine.
• A “small businesses” is defined according to Small Business Administration (SBA) guidelines. 

 

Presentation to the Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce: