LCI Construction President Scott Pounds wouldn’t put his good name on the line without doing his research.

As a contractor and a commercial and industrial member of Noble REMC, Scott is a great candidate for our Trade Ally program, which helps contractors encourage energy efficiency with rebates for clients who upgrade their equipment. But he couldn’t imagine recommending something he hadn’t tried out himself.

“I wanted to see how the program worked so that I could better help our customers and answer their questions,” he said.

That trial run wasn’t without benefits for his business, too: “With today’s market as competitive as it is,” he said, “I try to make use of any advantage that can help our clients save money on projects and improve our facilities.”

Scott chose a re-lighting program, upgrading metal halide fixtures with high-performance T8 lighting that he said “improved the quality of light in our mechanical shop a great deal.”

Scott called the process “really smooth and easy—we purchased the lights, installed them ourselves, submitted the documentation through Noble REMC, and they sent our rebate within 30 days.”

Timing is right for urging customers toward energy efficiency, Scott said: “The past couple years, we’ve really seen even more of a push toward making buildings more energy efficient. People are a lot more aware of the concept and the need for it.”

All of which means rebates for energy-efficient upgrades are more welcome than ever.

“This is another tool that I now use when I go into these plants to show how we can save them money and improve their energy consumption.”