Highlights
About the City of Chelsea
Located directly across the Mystic River from the City of Boston, Chelsea is the state’s smallest city and it’s also one of the most diverse in terms of culture and industry. The City is always working to improve its downtown area and promote its small businesses, while also striving to meet its sustainability goals.
Project Summary
For small business owners looking to make energy-saving improvements to their store or shop, it can be sometimes be difficult due to the lack of time or available resources. That's why Eversource partnered with the City of Chelsea and its authorized contractor, AECOM, to bring its Main Street program to more than 80 small businesses downtown, including a barbershop, bakery, furniture store, and printing shop. Participating businesses will collectively save nearly $150,000 in annual energy costs.
In addition to helping its retail customers, the program will also contribute to the City’s overall sustainability goals to be a cleaner, greener place. Over the next decade, the collective energy saved from the improvements could power approximately 1,300 homes for a year. The avoided CO2 emissions are the equivalent of removing nearly 1,200 cars from the road for an entire year.
Solution
The Main Street program focuses on a specific neighborhood and provides personal attention to the small businesses within that community. Working with a municipal partner, it ensures customers understand the energy-saving opportunities available to them and connects them to solutions for savings.
Beginning with the Mass Save small business program, customers receive a free, noobligation energy assessment conducted by an Eversource-authorized contractor. Business Owners then receive a comprehensive proposal of all possible energy efficiency opportunities, the complete costs and estimated energy savings, along with available incentives and f inancing options. Typical upgrade opportunities may include LED lighting, occupancy sensors, programmable thermostats, pipe and duct insulation, refrigeration controls and more.
“Customers keep telling me how great the store looks,” said B.D.’s Furniture owner Arthur Tuffaha, who received new energy efficient lighting. "The entire process was easy. I was so impresssed with the quiality of work that I had my three other stores evaluated for energy efficiency upgrades"
“The Main Street program has really enlivened our downtown area through the lighting upgrades, which I’m sure will help attract more business,” said Chelsea Downtown Coordinator Mimi Graney. “But not only is it good for business, it’s also good for the environment. We’re located right under jets flying out of Logan Airport and face heavy emissions from trucks, so I always look at ways to curb carbon emissions. The best way to do so is to start with our business community.”
Visit MassSave.com/Business to learn more about this project.