Big Bear, Ca, February 21, 2012, 12:00pm – The Big Bear Airport District is saving money, and helping Bear Valley Electric save energy in the process. The Airport and Bear Valley Electric have been working together to save energy at the airport for over a year, by doing two main projects: retrofitting the old inefficient lighting in the terminal building, and finding alternatives to the ramp area lighting. Changing the old light bulbs in the terminal building to more efficient T-8 linear florescent lamps occurred in January of 2011, which will cut the lighting bill by about 30-40% over the old lights. The second project saw 26 lights replaced with new LED fixtures, with BVES providing a financial incentive that paid 20% of the material cost. Bear Valley Electric estimates that the bill savings to the airport will be approximately $320,000 over the life of the LED lamps, which is for approximately 20 years. The old light bulbs needed to be replaced every 1 to 2 years. According to the Big Bear City Airport, this is a win win for both both Airport and Bear Valley Electric customers, as the lights operate during BVES’ peak period during the darker colder winter months, this will reduce the load on the BVES power grid. For more information on how to save money and energy go online at www.bves.com.
