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One of the surest signs that a new technology is taking hold is increased use by small businesses. These organizations generally lack the manpower and budgets to take a step unless it is straight forward, cost-effective and almost sure to work. Such organizations don’t want to make statements. They want to make money.

The fact that energy efficiency clearly made the leap to attract this sector was clear during 2016. For instance, John’s Cleaners, a small dry cleaning operation in Lafayette, CO, has installed 140 panels that will provide 68,000 kWh of energy, according to the Times Call in Longmont.

The business is only the second in the state to use Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing. This approach enables the property owner to finance projects through loans that are paid back through an assessment on the tax bill. In this case, the owners arranged a loan with Petros Partners, an investment firm in Austin, TX. The loan is attached to the property and will become the responsibility of the next owner if the dry cleaner changes hands.

The financing element is difficult — at least until people become more familiar with the process. “It was very difficult,” John Ellwood, the owner of John’s Cleaners, told Energy Manager Today. “There were several parties involved. It was difficult, for instance, for the finance company. They had never written this sort of contract from scratch. Then the county organizations that helped with the rebates and the state entity that also was involve had to work through their pieces of the process,” he said. “Everyone had not been through this before, so it took longer than anyone expected.”

These issues seem temporary, however. “I think the next person who comes through will have a more streamlined process.”

In California, the new SB 32 law will push communities, and therefore the businesses within them, to increase efficiency. The Lamorinda Weekly reports on an effort to help small- and medium-sized businesses in East Bay towns save money and meet the new rules by increasing energy efficiency. The program, the story says, is targeting businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

The increasing desire of small businesses to become energy efficient also is in evidence in Connecticut. The Simsbury Path reports that the town and its Chamber of Commerce are working with utility Eversource to bring businesses into the utility’s Small Business Energy Advantage. The program features free energy audits, energy saving recommendations, and financial incentives, the story says.

The reality is that the greatest source of energy savings is locked up in buildings used by small businesses.

The full article was originally found at Energy Manager Today.