184 Energy Project Financing: Resources and Strategies for Success
a trained staff of engineers and process specialists with extensive expe-
rience who can recommend operational changes or new equipment to
reduce the energy costs in a particular production environment. Many
gas and electric utilities, even if they do not offer audits, do offer fi-
nancial incentives for facilities to install high efficiency lighting, motors,
chillers, and other equipment. These incentives can make many ECOs
very attractive.
Small and medium-sized industries that fall into the Manufactur-
ing Sector—SIC 2000 to 3999—and are in the service area of one of the
industrial assessment centers funded by the U.S. Department of Energy
can receive free energy audits throughout this program. There are
presently 26 IACs operating primarily in the eastern and mid-western
areas of the U.S. These IACs are administered by Rutgers University,
Piscataway, NJ. Companies that are interested in knowing if an IAC is
located near them and whether they qualify for an IAC audit can call
215-387-2255 and ask for information on the industrial assessment center
program. Information can also be found at http://www.iac.rutgers.edu.
Industrial Energy Rate Structures
Except for the smallest industries, facilities will be billed for en-
ergy services through a large commercial or industrial rate category.
It is important to get this rate structure information for all sources of
energy—electricity, gas, oil, coal, steam, etc. Gas, oil and coal are usu-
ally billed on a straight cost per unit basis, e.g. $0.90 per gallon of #2
fuel oil. Electricity and steam most often have complex rate structures
with components for a fixed customer charge, a demand charge, and
an energy charge. Gas, steam, and electric energy are often available
with a time of day rate, or an interruptible rate that provides much
cheaper energy service with the understanding that the customer may
have his supply interrupted (stopped) for periods of several hours at
a time. Advance notice of the interruption is almost always given, and
the number of times a customer can be interrupted in a given period
of time is limited.
Process and Technology Data Sources
For the industrial audit, it is critical to get in advance as much
information as possible on the specialized process equipment so that
study and research can be performed to understand the particular
processes being used and what improvements in operation or technol-