Updated by Staff

It’s smiles all around at the Governor’s Energy Office these days, and not just because after months of pre-planning meetings and 14-hour days, the GEO’s launch of ‘Recharge Colorado” has been a major success. The hard work by the GEO team involved with the program has also delivered an economic shot in the arm to the state’s retail and contractor businesses.

Colorado consumers responded vigorously by reserving more than 25,000 rebates through more than 75,000 visits to the website and more than 16,000 calls to the call center since the campaign launch April 19. The enormous interest in rebates for energy efficient appliances, solar power and other energy upgrades has created an economic spark for retailers and contractors
providing energy-saving services.
 
“I can definitely tell you there was a surge in sales; we’ve had quite an increase in the amount of volume we’ve done,” said Michael Burkes, operations manager for the Grand Junction Sears store, where shoppers flocked to purchase ENERGY STAR refrigerators, washing machines and dishwashers. “I’d say we were very successful.”
 
Laurent Meillon, director of Capitol Solar Energy serving the Denver region, said the rebate program led to a significant bump in business in a period - late winter and early spring - which is typically quiet for the solar thermal industry. “This program acted as a real stimulus in a time of year which is traditionally slow,” Meillon said.
 
The rebate program led to a dozen bookings for his firm, enough to keep two crews of two workers apiece busy for two to three months. The rebate program, combined with federal tax credits, cut the cost of a solar hot water system in half for many customers, Meillon noted, drawing interest from past prospects who had previously been unable to afford a system.
 
Rebates were scooped up statewide, with great interest along the highly populated Front Range, but with strong response in rural and mountain counties as well, in areas including Routt, La Plata, Montezuma, Chaffee, Montrose, Teller, Yuma and Delta counties.
 
“The Recharge Colorado energy rebate program has really been successful in Chaffee County,” said Kathryn Wadsworth, community energy coordinator in Chaffee County, where the public reserved 83 rebates in the program’s first week.  “I am very excited that our local residents are taking advantage of, and will benefit from, the cost savings.”
 
Though several rebate categories are now on wait-list status, many rebates are still available for items and services that can lead to significant energy savings. Rebates remain for high performance hot water heaters, insulation upgrades, furnaces, boilers, home energy audits, duct sealing, energy monitors, residential and commercial solar electricity, commercial solar thermal as well as residential and commercial small wind systems.
 
The public is also encouraged to visit www.rechargecolorado.com and to learn about its many features beyond rebates. The new website includes an energy action planner to create a plan to save energy in the home, an energy incentive finder, which leads Coloradans to all the local, state, utility and federal rebates and tax credits by zip code as well as listings for service providers nearby. The site also includes numerous tips for saving energy and money, as well as news items and success stories tied to the New Energy Economy.
 
The Recharge Colorado campaign has teamed with the four Better Business Bureaus (BBB) serving Colorado to help Coloradans connect with vendors offering energy services. Residents and business owners can use the rechargecolorado.com site to select efficiency and renewable energy measures that help them save money, then use the list provided by the BBB to select contractors who provide the needed services, creating a seamless process for consumers.

source: BBB