Why Should Businesses in Colorado
Care About Energy Efficiency?
Businesses have many things to worry about—producing valued goods and services,
satisfying customers, competing in an increasingly global marketplace,
maintaining employee morale, and generating a profit, to name a few. On top of
this, for most businesses the cost of energy is a relatively small fraction of
the total cost of doing business. So why should a business pay attention to its
energy use and potential to reduce energy use by increasing energy efficiency?
The main answer is that it makes good business sense. Virtually every business
is using more energy than it needs to for its operations—for running assembly
lines, fueling industrial processes, heating, cooling, and lighting. Many
businesses use 20-50% more energy than they need to, as shown in the case
studies in this Guide. Cutting this energy waste by investing in more efficient
equipment is one of the most cost-effective investments a business can make—the
rate of return on this investment is often 30% or greater. In short, investing
in energy efficiency will increase a business’s profits. Conversely, continuing
to operate with high levels of energy waste and excessive energy costs will
reduce profits and put a business at a disadvantage when compared to more
energy-efficient competitors.
Increasing energy efficiency provides other benefits besides energy cost
savings. Energy-efficient lighting, heating, and air conditioning often improve
worker comfort and productivity as well as save energy. Industrial process
improvements can cut material use, improve product quality, or increase output,
as well as save energy. These non-energy benefits in some cases are worth more
than the energy bill savings, raising the return on investment to 50% or more.
Last but not least, energy efficiency improvements provide benefits to society
as well as to the firm making them. Increasing energy efficiency means less fuel
is consumed either on-site or by power plants, thereby reducing pollutant
emissions and water consumption. Increasing efficiency also lowers energy demand
growth, meaning less risk of power outages, less need for costly and
controversial new power plants and transmission lines, and less depletion of
finite energy resources. Put simply, energy-efficient businesses are better
corporate citizens than those that waste large amounts of energy.
Every business, big or small, should have a strategy for identifying and making
cost-effective energy efficiency improvements. This guide is meant to help
businesses in Colorado recognize what they can do to increase their energy
efficiency and where they can go for help.
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