1. MEDIA
RELEASE
May 7, 2014
For Immediate Release
Thunder Bay Businesses Get RETROFIT and Get Awarded
Thunder Bay, ON- Today, Thunder Bay Hydro recognized four local businesses at its
2014 Retrofit Excellence in Energy Efficiency & Conservation Awards. Each
business presented with the honour, has demonstrated leadership to save on energy
and has participated in the Thunder Bay Hydro saveONenergy RETROFIT PROGRAM
over the past year. The RETROFIT PROGRAM provides incentives for commercial
operations to install newer, more energy efficient solutions.
Says Robert Mace, President of Thunder Bay Hydro; “Thunder Bay Hydro is proud to
recognize the great things happening in our community and the local businesses who
do more to save energy. At Thunder Bay Hydro, we understand that a saved kilowatt
has value and it only makes business sense to encourage savings through our
programs and offer incentives to those who participate. The businesses acknowledged
today, are all committed to operate more efficiently and as a result are feeling the
benefits.”
The recipients of the 2014 Retrofit Excellence in Energy Efficiency & Conservation
Awards are as follows:
• Badanai Motors
Retrofit Measure: Lighting fixture replacements.
Key Stat: Business is saving 44,000 kWh of electricity annually.
• Dufresne
Retrofit Measure: LED lighting upgrades.
Key Stat: Project cost totaled $32,000; payback period for installation is less than
one year.
• LMI Thunder Bay
Retrofit Measure: Old lighting replaced with new more efficient lighting.
Key Stat: Business is saving $25,000 on annual electricity bill.
• Smith’s RV Centre
Retrofit Measure: Old lighting replaced with new more efficient lighting
Key Stat: Business is saving 35% of total energy use.

2. Since 2007, Thunder Bay Hydro Conservation has completed over 250 Retrofits in the
community, saving 8,600,000 kWh of electricity. This equates to enough electricity to
power 900 homes. At the 2014 Retrofit Excellence in Energy Efficiency & Conservation
Awards, Thunder Bay Hydro also announced three local businesses that are committed
to “Get RETROFIT” over the next year. The 2014 Retrofit Recruits are:
• Airlane Hotel & Conference Centre
Committed to upgrading to more efficient HVAC and indoor/outdoor lighting.
• Dominion Motors
Committed to replacing over 50% of their old inefficient light with more efficient
models.
• Naxos Grille & Bar
Committed to replacing old lighting with more efficient and longer lasting LED
models.
Says Jake Allen, Energy Advisor of Thunder Bay Hydro; “Most of us need an extra
incentive to get in shape and saveONenergy programs provide that motivation. Our new
Retrofit Recruits are committed to improving the physical condition of their business.
Every year more and more businesses are committing to find new ways to save energy
and money for the long-term. We are encouraging other businesses to commit and get
retrofit.”
The RETROFIT PROGRAM offers incentives to upgrade to high efficiency equipment
such as lighting, motors and heating, and for installing new control systems. Over 130
Thunder Bay businesses have already committed to participate in the program in 2014.
Over the last seven years the saveONenergy RETROFIT program has paid out over
$1.3 million in incentives to local Thunder Bay businesses.
www.tbhydro.saveonenergy.ca/retrofit
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Award Winner Testimonials:
“We’ve already experienced a huge drop on our electricity bills. Our biggest cost in regards to
energy is our lighting. Dufrense has 800 spotlights in our showroom at 75 watts each— that is a
huge amount of energy. In addition, throughout the summer months, each one of the lights
generates heat, so the air conditioning has to work a lot harder to compensate. These new
lights don't generate much heat at all, so the air conditioning has to work less and the power
consumption is one-fifth of what it was.”
Rob Coffey, Manager, Dufresne

3. “We changed all of the lights in our shop, body shop and office to energy efficient bulbs. It’s all
about cost savings. We had big halogen lights that heated up and didn’t have a great life
expectancy. The new fixtures brighten up our space and now we are looking at retrofitting the
lights on the exterior of the building. Thunder Bay Hydro made it easy.”
Pat Spina, Sales Manager, Badanai Motors
“Part of my role with LMI Thunder Bay is to diversify the company and identify new business
opportunities. We were looking at our internal processes and that involved energy efficiency and
what we can do to save money in-house. The Retrofit program just made sense. Not only do
we want to make progress with our clients, but internally with our people and our facility. Making
progress involves doing things that are proactive for energy efficiency. This was the first step
and it just made business sense.”
Roy Summers General Manager, LMI Thunder Bay
“We had some really old technology; they were basically just flood lights, so it wasn't the best
light in the world. We wanted to get rid of the old light because we are trying to recreate a
camping experience inside our showroom and you need to have really good light to do that. The
first reaction after we upgraded to new lighting is that everybody just loved it. The lights make a
world of difference. It is a lot more clean and natural. The retrofit has lightened up the store and
really does increase sales because people are more comfortable here.”
Ben Hettrick, Smith’s RV Centre
For More Information -
Amanda Bay
Firedog Communications
T- (807)767-4443 Ext 223
M- (807) 628-7109
E- amanda@firedogpr.com