COVINGTON, La. - First Baptist Church Covington was awarded a $10,173 cash incentive from the Cleco Commercial & Industrial Solutions Program for energy efficient lighting upgrades.

The Commercial & Industrial Solutions Program helps organizations save energy and money by providing no-cost facility improvement recommendations and financial incentives based on energy savings.

“Cleco’s program provided a way for us to identify energy-saving opportunities and solutions,” said Stephen Babin, First Baptist Church director of facilities.

The church replaced 76 outdoor lighting fixtures with high-efficiency lighting that will save 101,738 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equal to eliminating the carbon dioxide emissions from 8,045 gallons of gasoline or the electricity use of 10 homes for one year, according to Environmental Protection Agency calculations. First Baptist Church is planning more energy-saving upgrades to its facilities.

The Commercial & Industrial Solutions Program is part of a suite of energy-saving programs Cleco offers its residential and commercial customers. First Baptist Church is one of many customers to take advantage of Cleco’s energy efficiency program offerings. There are also programs available to small business customers, schools, government facilities and homeowners.

“We are proud of the energy efficiency gains First Baptist Church has made, and we look forward to helping more of our commercial customers save energy and money,” said Richard Sharp, Cleco director of resource planning.

Launched in 2015, Cleco’s energy efficiency programs have awarded its customers $2,319,744 in incentives for completed energy efficiency projects. In addition to the monetary benefits, the programs have reduced energy consumption by over 21,000,000 kilowatt-hours.

Click here to learn more about the energy efficiency program or call 1-877-662-4047.