Connecticut Green

Conn. Restaurant Makes Energy-efficiency Upgrades

Beverly Pizza

Bridgeport, CT – Beverly Pizza, located in Bridgeport, was recently approached by Artis Energy Solutions about an opportunity to save energy through United Illuminating’s (UI) Small Business Energy Advantage Program.

Providing free energy assessments and recommendations for efficiency upgrades, the program is designed to help customers save energy, and improve operation costs. There are a variety of small business incentives offered by UI and Southern Connecticut Gas (SCG), subsidiaries of AVANGRID, Inc.

With incentives from UI totaling almost $43,000, the restaurant was able to make nearly $61,000 in improvements. The upgrades included new interior and exterior lighting, LED bulbs installed in its two outdoor signs, replacement of the old gas furnace and gas fired water heater with new high-efficiency equipment, installation of an ENERGY STAR certified high-efficiency air conditioning unit and updated vending machine controls.

Operating in a distressed community with a qualifying average peak demand energy use, Beverly Pizza was also able to take advantage of UI and SCG’s Micro Business Energy Assistance Pilot (MBEA) incentives, which covered 75% of project costs. MBEA incentives are going to be integrated into the Small Business Energy Advantage program for 2022.

“The incentives made the project financially feasible and allowed them to save energy, which is good for the environment, and make improvements that are good for the business and the neighborhood,” said Kim Peters of Artis Energy Solutions. “The upgrades made are critical to restaurant businesses to ensure their customers are comfortable.”

Energize Connecticut programs are designed to help small businesses find ways to make their operations more energy efficient and support improved comfort and aesthetics. “This project is a great example of how the program has evolved through the years, not just to provide the latest in technology and solutions, but also to assess the bigger picture and apply a variety of offerings to help our customers,” said Colleen Morrison, UI small business program manager.