City of Antigo, Langlade County Projects Will Reap Big Energy Savings

Wisconsin Public Service Corporation  and Focus on Energy swooped into Antigo on Wednesday, presenting incentive checks totaling $122,153 to city and county officials.
The dollars represented the savings realized from energy efficient upgrades including lighting retrofits, variable frequency drives and vending machine controls. The work was funded in part by special Focus on Energy programs including  the WPS Schools and Government Program, a current offer that promotes innovative energy reduction through advanced efficiency equipment retrofits.
Langlade County and the city of Antigo each received competitive $25,000 grants funded by WPS plus additional funds supported by WPS’s Energy Bundle Bonus program for energy projects
At the county level, the dollars were accepted by Nate Heuss, director of facilities management.
“We had a plan in place and had begun to implement it, but the Focus on Energy grant really put us years ahead of our anticipated schedule in making these improvements,” Heuss said.
He applauded the assistance of Dave Nyquist of Focus on Energy, who he called “critical in planning the projects and in handling the paperwork required for the grant and incentives” as well as the in-house efforts of Craig Schwartz and John Holup, electrical workers for Langlade County.
“We were able to get special pricing on the electrical components, and our electricians installed most of the components,” Heuss said. “Between the savings on labor, special component pricing, and additional Focus on Energy incentives, the amount of work we were able to accomplish far exceeded the initial $25,000 grant.”
At the city level, the grants helped address lighting upgrades in every single department, a project again assisted by Nyquist.
“His knowledge regarding the various options under consideration helped lead us to choosing those efforts with the greatest return on investment while balancing the prioritized needs of the city of Antigo,” Mark Desotell, director of administrative services, said. “ We prioritized the best use of public funds in a manner that respects the environment through active efforts to reduce energy consumption.”
Fire Chief Jon Petroskey said the project brought other benefits as well.
“We were not only capable of realizing the energy savings but also the improved overall safety/efficiency of the daily use of our facility,” Petroskey said.
With these projects now complete, the city of Antigo will reduce more than 16 kilowatts of energy demand, while saving 151,880 kilowatt-hours of electricity— enough energy to power 15 homes for one year. The annual environmental benefits are equivalent to offsetting 299 barrels of oil from being burned and taking 25 cars off the road—eliminating more than 256,981 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.
At the county level, the projects will reduce more than 32 kilowatts of energy demand, while saving 195,741 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power 20 homes for one year. The annual environmental benefits are equivalent to offsetting 385 barrels of oil from being burned and taking 32 cars off the road —eliminating more than 331,194 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.