FORT MCCOY, Wis. -- The Feb. 2 presentation of an energy-conservation financial incentive award was another sign of the successful continuing cooperative effort between Fort McCoy's energy provider, a statewide energy-conservation program and the installation.
Garrison Commander Col. David E. Chesser said he was honored to accept the $28,100 incentive award, which was presented in the form of a ceremonial check by representatives from Focus on Energy and Xcel Energy. The check resulted from a lighting replacement project in the Installation Materiel Maintenance Activity (IMMA), facilities, buildings 200, 205, 206 and 208.
"An energy rebate is really significant for the installation," Chesser said. "We are under a Department of Defense/Army mandate to reduce energy consumption by 3 percent a year. For us that's a challenge, because our infrastructure is somewhat aged."
During the past several years, Fort McCoy has invested in modernizing its infrastructure. Chesser said it was a pleasant surprise to get money back from a project.
Don Keck of the Focus on Energy program, a statewide energy-conservation program, said his group partners with Xcel Energy, the installation's energy provider, to provide energy conservation assistance. The program has helped with the insulation and building envelope upgrades to hundreds of barracks, administrative/supply and double dining facilities and many other energy conservation projects on post, he said.
The project in the IMMA will save approximately half the energy of the old lighting it replaced, Keck said.
"The lighting quality is tremendously better so your personnel will have better working conditions," Keck said. "We had a special bonus in place, and your people and the contractor were able to get things going fast enough so you were able to take advantage of that bonus. That's one of the reasons the incentive check was so large."
Eric Schlichting, McCoy Joint Public Works energy manager, said the project in building 200 included replacing 400-, 250- and 175-watt high-bay metal halide lights with four- and six-lamp T8 high-bay fluorescent fixtures.
The energy-cost reduction Schlichting calculated from the IMMA project was $18,169 per year. The money, as well as rebates from other projects, is used in installation construction and renovation projects.
"This project is part of the Directorate of Public Works' efforts toward reducing the total energy consumption of the installation and for Fort McCoy to meet federal energy-reduction requirements," Schlichting said.
Additional energy-saving lighting-replacement projects are scheduled for buildings 490, 1122, 50 and 2187, and some warehouses in the 2100 block.
Schlichting said all new lighting installed throughout the post is very energy efficient and provides better lighting. Other projects being developed include vacuum fluorescent display lighting and motor replacements for the walk-in coolers on post.
For more information about energy reduction/savings at Fort McCoy, call 608-388-4557/2601, or see the energy awareness tips on the Fort McCoy Corporate Network. The tips, published weekly, also include tips to reduce residential energy usage.
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