Program Goes Through $6.5 Million In Four Days!
Rebate programs are wildly popular with businesses trying to reduce the cost of their energy efficiency projects. Often there's a frenzy to get the money when it becomes available. In fact, one program is so popular it just can't seem to keep its funds. At the end of 2009, a program offered by the State of Virginia had $10 million available for energy efficiency projects. Within 3 weeks, the program exhausted all its funds. This year, they secured an additional $6.5 million for energy efficiency projects. Customers could take advantage of the funds starting on March 22nd. Four days later, the program stopped accepting new applications and had a wait list of 3,200 applications!
Stories like this one echo across the nation. In April, the NY Times published an article discussing how quickly funds can be depleted. In Florida, one program went through $17.6 million in a day and a half with 72,000 claims filed in that time. The demand is understandable; the rebates make it much easier for customers to upgrade to more energy efficient equipment, which means payback periods are greatly reduced.
Fortunately, with the right partner, you can make sure you don't miss out on rebate programs like these. In the case of Virginia, BriteSwitch worked with several customers to plan ahead and be prepared for this program. By closely monitoring the funding and their deadlines, we secured rebates for 73 locations in Virginia before the money ran out.