A shifted focus for the Savings Through Efficient Products program (STEP) brought many new facilities into the Illinois Energy Now participant portfolio during the 2015 program year. STEP provides informational resources, walkthrough assessments and free, easy‐to‐install energy efficient measures to qualifying Illinois public facilities.

Eighty-six percent of participants during the first three quarters of the year were new to Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) programs, helping close the gap between the number of public facilities eligible for state energy efficiency incentive programs and the percentage participating in these programs.

In its third year, 318 facilities participated in STEP, far outpacing program year goals. Participating facilities installed enough products to save an estimated 6,271,266 annual gross kWh and 234,737 annual gross therms across Illinois (pre-evaluated savings). That’s enough savings to power 509 homes for a year!

STEP aimed to attract new participants into the Department’s suite of programs, and then to guide them toward DCEO’s many offerings through personalized recommendations. As one facility letter shared, “Already, STEP has enabled us to increase EE in our buildings in new ways, and we are excited to maintain this forward momentum …I have already been networking and sharing our success stories with other schools.”