She walked into Jason Topercer’s office last year carrying a large bundle of utility bills and plopped them in the middle of his desk. It was a crisp autumn day and Topercer, a bit surprised, wasn’t quite sure what to think of the sudden disruption. Was she angry? Was this going to be one of those days when he wished the weekend were much closer at hand? Why would a former customer bring him bills that were due another company?
It turned out to be a day Topercer, a partner in Rehoboth Beach based Clean Energy USA would never forget – but in a good way.
“She brought all those bills in, put them on the desk and asked us how she could help us sell more of our product,” Topercer remembers. “She said she hadn’t had a balance in four months and she wanted us to use her bills for marketing purposes, She wanted to do whatever she could to help us out” It was not an isolated incident. With the nation embroiled in its biggest financial crisis in decades, Topercer and the other four partners at Clean Energy USA are watching their business grow with each passing month. A big reason for their success is solar incentives offered by the state of Delaware to any homeowner, or business, willing to make an investment in so-called “green” energy.
Today, as much as 50 percent of the cost of a qualified renewable energy system can be offset by money collected by Delaware’s electric utilities and managed by the Delaware Energy office. ‘The money comes from charges assessed to all electricity customers in the state,” The green energy program we have in Delaware right now is one of the most progressive in the country,” says Justin Healy, another partner in the company. “There are a lot of people who are really starting to 1ook into forms of renewable energy. I love the fact that we’re doing our little part to not buy as much oil from foreign countries.” In 2008, Delaware ranked sixth in the nation in the number of renewable energy installations per capita, trailing California, New Jersey, Arizona, New Mexico and Hawaii, according to data from the interstate Renewable Energy Counci1.
Topercer says potential customers call his company for two reasons: the possible savings and/or “feel good” objectives. “The main thing that attracts people is the financial side of moving toward renewable energy,” says Topercer. “They look at their power bill and they want to save money. When people look at how much money they can get back through savings and through these renewable energy credits they get from the state they’re like ‘wow,’ We’re going to give them around a 10 percent return on their investment. There is a significant upfront investment in installing any type of renewable energy system, but it’s an investment that can pay a homeowner back many times over in the long run. Because of the initial financial outlay, however, most renewable energy installations have been undertaken by businesses thus far in Delaware. But nationwide, the trend is beginning to move more toward individual homeowners”
Topercer, Healy and the rest of the management and staff at Clean Energy USA hope that trend continues into Delaware in the months and years to come. “We love that we’re not only doing something that is profitable, but something that also has a good goal in mind, which is reducing our dependence on foreign oil and decreasing the amount of pollution that people put into the air by using classic energy sources says Healy. “You’re saving money and doing something that feels pretty good; which we think is terrific.”
Clean Energy USA installed about 70 systems in 2008. Most of them were photovoltaic or solar installations, but the company does install wind turbines and solar thermal systems as well. Their installers tend to be pretty popular in the neighborhoods they service. Customers see by and large almost instant savings on their acccount. “They’ll come up to us and say things like “you promised me a 40 percent savings on my power bill and I’m getting 50 percent,’” says “Topercer.
“A lot of times the return is actually greater than they expect so we have a lot of customers coming back to us extremely happy.” Some more than others.
“I had a customer come over to us [last year] and hand me a bottle of wine,” says Topercer with a chuckle. “His power bill showed a negative balance and he was so happy. He actually had a 170 kilowatt credit on his account”
Formed less than two years ago Clean Energy USA has continued to grow even in a worldwide economic downtown, Healy and Topercer say that’s mainly because of their product and accompanying financial incentives from the state of Delaware and the federal government. “Right now we employ 10 people and that’s 10 jobs that have been created because people believe in [renewable energy] and are helping us grow,” says Healy. “We expect to double that in the next year, hopefully more than that.” If so, it may be time to buy a nice new set of wine glasses
