NEW YORK, April 5, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lime Energy (Nasdaq: LIME) has been notified that it has won the contract as the exclusive provider for the Small Business Energy Efficiency Program for the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). The projected value of the five year contract is $7.3 million per year. The program will offer incentives of up to 70% toward the cost of energy efficiency upgrades to qualifying small business customers in specific distribution load pocket areas of Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA created the Small Business Direct Install Energy Efficiency Program as part of its customer-funded $900-plus million "Efficiency Long Island" strategy to defer distribution and generation system upgrade costs by reducing peak energy demand. To achieve the goal, LIPA needs to penetrate the small commercial sector, which has historically proven to be a challenge. The Authority plans to overcome this challenge by offering incentives of up to 70% of project cost. The contract award was approved by LIPA's Board of Trustees on March 24th and requires the approval of the Attorney General and Comptroller of the State of New York.
Under the contract, Lime will enter into direct contracts to provide turnkey lighting retrofits with qualifying load pocket to customers who choose to participate. Lime will provide the engineering design, installation, customer financing, and program administration through its Lime iPlan technology and management platform. Lime Energy auditors will use a handheld computer and web-enabled technology to quickly identify opportunities to save energy and reduce operating costs. Program implementation will require the services of local subcontractors and is anticipated to create more than 50 green jobs.
Other area utilities such as National Grid in New York and the New Jersey BPU's Small Business Energy Efficiency Program have contracted with Lime Energy for the iPlan Direct Install delivery platform. "Lime Energy is committed to delivering scalable permanent load reduction for utilities," said John O'Rourke, COO of Lime Energy. "More and more utilities are embracing the small business direct install program design which has proven to be very successful for both the utilities and customers. In 2010, we provided approximately 76,000 megawatt-hours of energy efficiency for more than 2,000 small business customers in New York and New Jersey. In addition to the energy, cost and emission reduction benefits, these two programs alone created over 250 jobs."
About Lime Energy Co.
Lime Energy is a leading provider of energy efficiency solutions. Our services include integrated energy engineering, consulting and implementation of solutions which enable our customers to reduce their facilities' energy consumption, lower their operating and maintenance costs and reduce their carbon footprint. We focus on solutions which include lighting, mechanical and electrical upgrade services, water conservation, weatherization and renewable project development and implementation. We provide these solutions to the commercial and industrial markets, utilities, energy service companies (ESCOs) and the government sector across a wide range of facilities including high-rise office buildings, manufacturing plants, retail sites, mixed use complexes and large government sites. The company's stock is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol LIME. Additional information is available at the company's website at www.lime-energy.com or by calling 847-437-1666.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including statements that reflect Lime Energy's current expectations about its future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. Lime Energy has tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words and phrases such as "may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plan," "should," "typical," "preliminary," "hope," or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to Lime Energy and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause Lime Energy's actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities in the future to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward- looking statements. These risks include those risks referenced in Lime Energy's current Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or as may be described from time to time in Lime Energy's subsequent SEC filings; such factors are incorporated herein by reference.
CONTACT: Investor Relations Glen Akselrod Bristol Capital Ltd. (905) 326-1888 glen@bristolir.com
