Premium Efficiency Cooling Program
Frequently Asked Questions
What's in it for me?
As a building owner or manager, you know the value of improved energy efficiency. High summer energy bills affect everyone's bottom line and inefficient or aging cooling systems can be very costly to operate and maintain. By joining the statewide initiative to reduce the environmental impacts of existing commercial buildings, you are doing your part to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve precious resources. By installing equipment that meets tomorrow's efficiency standards today, you will begin to benefit immediately by the improved cooling performance of your system. Going green is good business.
What Incentives are Available?
The Premium Efficiency Cooling Program is oriented toward the midstream: professional HVAC contractors. The incentives offset their costs of training, processing, and purchasing diagnostic equipment for ensuring optimal refrigerant charge and airflow. Contractors may use the incentives to promote premium efficiency equipment sales through discounts or rebates. Most participating contractors offer point-of-purchase discounts, and the discount amount passed through to customers is set by the contractor. Other contractors will provide you with the rebate checks directly.
To obtain commercial above-code equipment incentives, you should ask your contractors to sign up for the program and designate you as the payee for any future work done on your buildings.
Do hurry. Incentives are limited and are aimed at maximizing energy savings per dollar invested. We are currently offering incentives throughout the SDG&E® service area, but may eventually limit funds to the warmer areas of the county. To reserve rebates call 888-369-1608.
My unit is ten years old. Should I repair or replace it?
Much depends on how much you run your air conditioning unit. This depends on the type of business, climate and building construction, as well as hours of operation. Use the Energy Savings Calculator to determine your return on investment for purchasing a new unit. As a rule of thumb, if the ROI is higher than you would earn by putting your funds in a Certificate of Deposit or bank account, your business would do well to consider replacement. The alternative is to tune-up your ten-year old AC unit to optimize its efficiency at the level it was intended to perform.
How can I qualify for early retirement incentives?
To qualify for early retirement incentives, you must install equipment that meets the recommended minimum efficiency levels for Early Retirement. Please consult the Incentive Schedule for details. You will also be asked to provide the pulled equipment make, model and serial numbers from the nameplates of the equipment you are replacing. Your existing equipment must be functioning or less than twenty years old and serviceable. You will also need to pull all necessary permits to comply with local and state building codes and, if your building qualifies for benchmarking, provide a Statement of Energy Performance from the ENERGY STAR® benchmarking website. The Program does not require pre-inspections, but if you would like assistance collecting your data for existing units (prior to replacement), complete a reservation request form on line and request a pre-inspection. A program representative will be scheduled to collect the data for you. All equipment replacements will need to be verified on site (after installation is complete) before checks will be paid.
Are PTAC/PTHP Controllers and Energy Management Systems limited to hotels and motels only?
Yes. Only eligible hotels or motels built before 2005 can participate in the controller and energy management system incentives. See the Energy Savings Calculator - Hotels and Motels for estimates of your Simple Payback and Return on Investment for these measures.
Is On-Bill Financing Available through SDG&E for program measures?
The San Diego Gas & Electric® On-Bill Financing Program (OBF) requires that measures meet specific payback requirements. See www.sdge.com/obf for details. The Energy Savings Calculators evaluate the Simple Payback for the additional cost of upgrading from standard efficiency to premium efficiency equipment. However, OBF looks at the full cost of installation including equipment, labor and taxes. Most HVAC units will not qualify for OBF for this reason, but hotel PTAC/HP controllers have much shorter payback periods and may qualify. To apply, download the OBF application at www.sdge.com/obf.