NC — Small to medium-size industrial facilities looking for ways to cut costs and increase productivity can apply to Natural Resources Canada for funding to install energy-efficient equipment.

NRCan will provide funding of up to 25 per cent of project costs to a maximum of $50,000 per application and $250,000 per corporation. The program is designed to help businesses fund the capital costs of energy-saving projects that will permanently reduce their monthly energy costs. Funding can also be stacked with other provincial or utility incentives; in fact, 70 per cent of projects so far have received funding from other programs.

IPEX, a national plastic piping manufacturer with plants across Canada, for example, expects to save $56,000 a year after replacing its 20-year-old lighting system with state-of-the-art fluorescents and motion-detectors. Lighting costs account for about 10　per cent of the plant's annual energy bill, which is about $965,000.

So far, more than 300 companies have qualified to receive funding under the ecoENERGY Retrofit Program for Industry, representing more than $14 million dollars in annual energy savings. The savings are equivalent to the energy consumed by approximately 9,000 Canadian households.

To apply for the program or review the terms and conditions, call 613-996-6780 or visit the ecoENERGY Retrofit for Industry website oee.nrcan.gc.ca/industrial/retrofit.