Variable Speed Drives Program
MidAmerican Energy's Variable Speed Drives program offers our commercial and industrial
customers in Illinois rebates for the installation of energy-efficient variable-speed
drive
equipment.
When Should You Install a Variable-Speed Drive?
Commercial and industrial
energy customers should consider installing variable-speed drive
equipment if the motors
are utilized for increased operating hours and have a higher
variability of loads on the
system (pumps, fans and blowers) or the application of use
includes mechanical throttling
(valves, dampers, etc.). Variable-speed drives match the
speed of the motor-driven
equipment to the process requirement. Applications with low
variability of loads such as
vibrating conveyors, punch presses, rock crushers, machine
tools and other applications
where the motor runs at constant speed are not eligible
for a rebate. The variable-speed drive
rebate is $30 per horsepower of
the driven motor or 70 percent of the installed cost
(reasonable labor and material). Cost
of clean rooms to house variable-speed drives may be
used in the total installed cost
calculation.
Program Requirements
- Minimum of 3,000 annual operating hours
- Must be for new installations or failed variable-speed drives with bypass capability only
- Variable-speed drive must be controlling a system or process with a variable load
- For use with fans, pumps or blowers
- Process must be automatically controlled; manual controls do not qualify
Drives ineligible to receive a rebate from this program include:
- Replacement of working variable-speed drives
- Single-phase variable-speed drives
- Installation of variable-speed drives for the sole purpose of soft starting
- Variable-speed drives for spare inventory
- Installations where applicable code requires a variable-speed drive
- Mechanical-type drives or gear boxes, Eddy Current drives or magnetic coupling, etc.
- Variable-speed drives in heating, ventilating and air conditioning where required by applicable code (ASHRAE 90.1-2007 or IECC 2012)
Consider These Benefits
Variable-speed drive improvements generally will:
- Reduce energy costs
- Improve plant efficiency and load factor
- Ensure precise control of process flow and pressure
- Reduce maintenance costs by reducing stress on the connected motor
For additional resources regarding pumping system improvements, visit
www.pumpsystemsmatter.org.
A free guidebook on motors and variable-speed drives is available from the Consortium for
Energy Efficiency at
www.cee1.org.
Note: MidAmerican Energy also provides financial incentives to help customers implement energy-efficient equipment
and systems that are not included in our prequalified equipment lists or addressed in other EnergyAdvantage programs. Cash
incentives will be customized and are based on the qualifying equipment’s higher incremental cost, peak demand reduction,
annual energy use reduction and annual energy cost savings. An application for the Custom Systems program must be received
and preapproved by MidAmerican Energy prior to the customer’s purchase and installation of equipment or systems to be
eligible for a rebate. MidAmerican Energy can provide technical assistance to expedite the rebate application process.
View our
Custom Systems guidelines for additional information.
New in 2013 is that preapproval is
NOT required for nonresidential prescriptive projects exceeding $10,000.
Preapproval is still required in the Custom Systems program.
Brochure and Application Form
Learn how adding flexibility to production processes can make a big difference in
operational efficiency by reviewing a
full brochure
of our Variable-Speed Drives program.
You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your hard drive to view PDF files.
Download a free copy by visiting the
Adobe Download Site.
Questions?
Call our representatives at
800-894-9599.