Money for studies and upgrades of hvac systems and their controls may be waiting for you and your customers – but you have to know how to get it. In the past, some of it was restricted to government-owned buildings (e.g., K-12 schools, firehouses), but now even for-profit commercial buildings are eligible for a piece of the pie.
If electric deregulation is happening in your state, this money comes from your electric bills. Most deregulating states are setting aside one to three mills (tenths of a cent) per kilowatt-hour as “system benefit charges” (SBC), also called “universal service fees.” That may not seem like much, but it adds up fast when every ratepayer is paying into the pot.