by Shane Henson — January 23, 2012—Many American manufacturers have the desire to significantly improve their energy efficiency and reduce their overall costs in the process, but are needing extra support to do so. Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $3 million to administer its Superior Energy Performance (SEP) program focused on assisting American manufacturers in increasing the energy efficiency of their domestic facilities, boosting their global competitiveness, and creating jobs.
Specifically, the SEP Program will address several fundamental challenges that energy managers face within both the industrial and commercial sectors. The program aims to improve awareness of energy efficiency opportunities within companies across both sectors, develop consistent models to evaluate the business merits of competing opportunities, foster commitments to energy efficiency from company leadership, and provide guidance to implement energy-saving upgrades.
There are currently 35 companies in 20 states addressing these challenges by participating in SEP industrial demonstration projects. Eight SEP commercial pilot facilities have also been established to test the SEP program elements and overall scheme.
The funding is expected to be awarded to at least one entity over a period of up to three years and will be subject to an annual performance review to evaluate progress toward meeting program goals and deliverables. Eligible applicants for this funding opportunity include U.S. domestic entities or consortia composed of academic institutions, non-profits [except 501(c)(4) non-profits] and for-profit private entities.
