Lighting control rebates going strong
Lighting rebates hit a record of sorts in 2016.
Commercial lighting rebates covered 79% of the United States, according to BriteSwitch, which is a record high since the rebate processing company began measuring rebate coverage nine years ago.
The company cited several reasons for the historic high, including that many programs replenished their rebate funds in January. Also, some large programs that ran out of money years ago have come back such as FirstEnergy in Ohio and Duquesne Light in Pennsylvania.
In 2016, many rebate programs began to focus more heavily on LED products, a trend that is continuing in 2017. Last year, only 10 utilities were providing prescriptive rebates for LED lamps meant to replace HID screw-in bulbs, which are frequently used in high bay or outdoor lighting applications. This year, the number of utilities jumped to 116.
The rebate amounts for these bulbs can be significant, according to BriteSwitch.
“On average the prescriptive rebate is currently $110 per bulb, the company said. “That amount does not take into account though the various cost caps that programs often have to limit the overall rebate at a percentage of material or project cost.”
To read more on lighting rebate trends and average rebate amounts, click here.