Are you a small business owner looking to improve your energy efficiency and cut energy costs but don't know quite where to begin? Our friends at FOCUS ON ENERGY^® have created two new, no-cost resources with you in mind: Virtual Energy Assessments and Energy-Saving Packs (which you can earn just by completing an assessment).

Step 1: Start with a Virtual Energy Assessment

"Small business owners have a lot of priorities competing for their attention, and it can be hard to find the time to improve their energy efficiency," said Erin Soman, energy efficiency program portfolio manager at Focus on Energy. "We wanted to provide a resource that made learning about and understanding energy efficiency easy and accessible."

Their solution? A Virtual Energy Assessment that's:

• Fast. You should be able to complete the Assessment in 10 to 15 minutes. 
• Easy to use. Simple graphics throughout make it easy to identify your equipment and complete your assessment. And you can always choose the "Don't know" option if you get stuck.
• Available 24/7. Complete the assessment whenever it's convenient for you. 
• Simple to save and update. Need to look something up? Have facility changes to add? You can revise and save as needed. 

Who should complete the Assessment? Whoever knows your facility best, typically the owner, manager or facilities staff. The Assessment covers equipment and systems critical to your business, including lighting, HVAC, hot water, other systems and operations. 

Do I qualify? To qualify, your organization needs to meet the following criteria:

• Be an energy customer of a participating utility
• Have energy consumption of 40,000 kWh or less during July and August of the most recent year
• Operate nine or fewer locations

Agricultural producers, multifamily apartments, schools and government facilities are not eligible to participate but are encouraged to check out focusonenergy.com/business to see what is available for their facility. 

Not sure if you qualify? Enter the Focus on Energy small business portal, and the first few assessment questions will determine if your business is a fit.​

Have a question while you're filling it out? Rely on the experts at Focus on Energy for help. During office hours, they're just a phone call away at (888) 632-2146 or use the online chat feature on Focus on Energy's small business website. You can also shoot them an email at business@focusonenergy.com. 

Step 2: Check out your personalized action plan

Once you've completed your assessment, you'll receive a personalized plan that includes low-cost improvements and recommendations for equipment upgrades. 

The tool will let you indicate if you're interested in a recommendation, wouldn't consider it or have already done it, then automatically sorts the recommendations you select into completed and saved actions. "It creates a handy checklist of ways business owners can reduce their energy costs," Soman said. 

Interested in pursuing one of the items on your action plan? A "Take action" link lets you search for available Focus on Energy incentives—a great way to whittle down your investment payback time—and find a vetted contractor near you. 

Once you've completed your Assessment, you can revisit it anytime using the portal's handy dashboard. 

Step 3: Earn a free Energy-Saving Pack 

Completing your Assessment also earns you a small business Energy-Saving Pack. "We built these with the intent of delivering immediate savings and non-energy benefits like improved light quality," said Soman. "We also looked for items that would be easy to install."

There are three different options tailored for different business types—you can choose the one that best meets your business needs. 
 

MGE and Focus on Energy Partnership

MGE is one of the 107 Wisconsin utilities that partner with Focus on Energy to bring energy expertise and financial incentives to business, residential and municipal customers.

"MGE participates in a similar residential program (for the Energy-Saving Pack) that's been very successful, and we believe the commercial program will be too," said Brian Driscoll, senior multifamily services manager. "We're excited for our small business customers to gain access to these energy-saving tools."

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