Program Offers Free Energy Audits

A new program created by the Illinois Department of Commerce and the Community Affairs Bureau of Energy and Recycling offers small-business owners free energy audits.

Creating Energy Management Opportunities for Industries (CEMOI) is operated in conjunction with Central Illinois Public Service Co. and trains college students majoring in engineering and marketing to identify areas where a business can conserve energy and save money.

Prior to an audit, the students and their advisors review a firm's utility bills. A team of two to three auditors then spends up to 15 hours at the company's facility examining energy usage; when the audit is complete, they present written recommendations to the business owner. While the audits are not guaranteed to save money, past audits have been successful in helping companies reduce energy costs.

Currently audits and recommendation reports are free; however, CEMOI is considering charging a fee for the reports.

For more details, contact Southern Illinois University-Carbondale at (618) 453-3221 or the Edwardsville campus at (618) 692-2161.

This article was originally published in the April 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Program Offers Free Energy Audits.