Indiana Michigan Power President and Chief Operating Officer Toby Thomas on Tuesday presented a $60,000 energy efficiency incentive rebate check to East Allen County Schools Superintendent Marilyn S. Hissong.
As part of the New Haven Junior-Senior High School major renovation project, Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) and East Allen Community Schools (EACS) worked together to save energy by installing new LED light fixtures and by upgrading the Heating-Ventilation-Air Conditioning (HVAC) system with new digital controls. Together, the energy efficiency measures are expected to reduce the school’s energy use by more than 1 million kiloWatt hours annually – the equivalent of powering more than 80 typical homes for a year.
“I&M is pleased to work with East Allen County Schools leaders to help the school system achieve greater energy efficiency,” Thomas said. “The New Haven High School project helps the school system reduce its environmental footprint while reducing energy costs.”
Marilyn Hissong, the EACS Superintendent, said: “This partnership with I&M is another example of how East Allen works to responsibly control costs and energy use. In addition the difference that such energy efficiencies make can serve as real-world examples of lessons students learn within this building in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).”
After the announcement at New Haven High School, Kurt Van Horn, Energy Manager for EACS, demonstrated the new LED lights and explained how the school is saving energy.
In addition to using up to 90 percent less energy than traditional lights, LEDs last two-to four-times longer than fluorescent lights and more than 40 times as long as incandescent bulbs. The school’s lighting system turns lights off when no movement is detected after a specific time period.
The new HVAC controls constantly monitor temperatures throughout the building and automatically adjust the heating and cooling levels.
I&M has a history of working with East Allen County Schools to save energy. From 2017 to 2019, EACS used I&M energy efficiency programs on 24 projects in various buildings that have saved more nearly 1.5 million kilowatt hours of energy and provided the school district with more than $90,000 in incentive dollars.
