Metro Energy Solutions Announces Contract with Morris County, New Jersey

NEW JERSEY- May, 2001 - West Caldwell - Metro Energy Solutions announced today it has completed the first phase of a countywide initiative to upgrade the infrastructure of Morris County's facilities and reduce operating costs and energy consumption. The energy conservation project involved renovating the existing fluorescent and incandescent lighting in the Morris County Courthouse Building, the Administration and Records Building, and the Schuyler Building, all located in downtown Morristown. The project is expected to save the taxpayers of Morris County over $1.6 million over the next ten years, according to John Murphy, Freeholder Director for Morris County.   

Metro Energy Solutions also announced it has entered into the second phase of the energy efficiency project with Morris County. This project will include lighting retrofits in other County facilities, as well as improvements to the heating and air conditioning systems in many of the County's larger facilities. "We look forward to continuing our efforts to lower our operating costs while improving the environment and the condition of our building and we are encouraging our local municipalities, School Boards, and independent authorities to pursue these savings as well. Municipal Utility Authorities, which consume a great deal of power, could realize significant savings from such a project, " stated Murphy. "As we face the consequences of a slowing economy, these measures are the type of initiatives we must emphasize in 2002 in order to keep bringing efficient government to our taxpayers," Murphy continued.  

In July, 2000, the County Freeholders awarded a contract to Metro Energy Solutions, an energy services and energy consulting company, to act as the County's consultant on the project. Metro Energy performed the engineering and design for the lighting retrofit, assisted the County's purchasing department in preparing the bid specifications for the project, provided the project management and insured the project came in under budget. "We were very pleased to work with Morris County on this project. The Freeholders realized there were significant opportunities to save money for the County, while actually improving their lighting systems," stated Robert Ragozine, Executive Vice President of Metro Energy Solutions.  

The $525,000 lighting project involved retrofitting over 6,000 lighting fixtures and installing new, state-of-the-art lighting equipment including electronic ballasts, compact fluorescent lamps that last approximately five times longer than incandescent lamps and use significantly less energy, Light Emitting Diode (LED) exit signs, and Metal Halide lamps in the Parking Garage. All of the old fluorescent lamps were recycled and the old ballasts were properly disposed of to complete the environmentally friendly project. In addition, Morris County was able to secure a rebate of $21,500, paid by GPU Energy through the recently implemented New Jersey SmartStart Building Program, introduced by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in May, 2001. Morris County also will be participating in the Department of Energy's Rebuild America Program, which provides national recognition for outstanding efforts in energy efficiency.