USDA cuts engineering company's electric bill

1/12/2012

Compass Components, an engineering, manufacturing and distribution company based out of New Mexico, recently received help from the U.S. Small Business Administration to reduce its electricity costs, New Mexico Business Weekly reports.

A USDA loan of $48,000 funded through the agency's Rural Development division will assist in the replacement of 630 fluorescent tube lights and fixtures at Compass' Deming facility.

The company will substitute its old lights for 48 energy-efficient T-8 Hi-Bay bulbs, which are expected to cut its electric bill by 50 percent, allowing the company to nix old system ballasts that contained toxins.

Compass was offered the funds via the USDA's Rural Energy for America Program. The initiative promotes green living and provides businesses and farms in areas of less than 50,000 people with grants and loans that cover up to 75 percent of the cost of installing alternative energy systems.

Elsewhere in the state, the USDA once again tapped into its Rural Development Program, providing New Mexico State University with an $800,000 grant to help students enter careers natural resource management and agricultural research, the news source notes in a separate article.