BR Williams Trucking Inc., a trucking, warehousing and logistics company based in Oxford, AL recently completed a three-facility lighting retrofit project that shines more efficient light on 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space. GE Capital teamed with GE Lighting and Mayer Electric to offer BR Williams a turn-key service that included audit analysis, products, labor and financing.
GE Capital structured BR Williams’ financing to achieve estimated monthly energy-cost savings that exceed the monthly financing payment. The retrofit involved the removal of 400-watt metal halide fixtures and installation of more efficient four- and six-lamp T5 linear fluorescent high-bay fixtures and GE UltraStart® programmed-start electronic ballasts.
“By financing the lighting retrofit through GE Capital, BR Williams was able to preserve its working capital for more pressing needs and eliminate a large up-front capital expenditure,” said Diane Cooper, leader of GE Capital, Equipment Finance and a GE company officer. “When costs for lighting equipment, installation and disposal are combined into a loan with fixed monthly payments, it can be structured around a company’s estimated utility savings.”
GE Capital has been providing inventory financing and retail customer solutions to BR Williams since 2001.
The cost to install new GE Lighting products in three of BR Williams’ locations was $316,000, with estimated annual energy savings of $156,200. The project costs will be recouped in about two years as a result of the energy saved. With a three-year financing term, BR Williams’ loan payment is less than its anticipated monthly energy savings, creating a cash flow-positive project from day one.
“This return on investment achievement at BR Williams — immediate monthly energy savings higher than the financing payment and the fast two-year project payback period — is a best practice for commercial operations of any size,” noted Jaime Irick, general manager of North America Professional Solutions, GE Lighting. “It’s an irresistible value proposition backed by measurable results.”
After a lighting audit by Birmingham, AL-based Mayer Electric Supply, a GE Lighting distributor, the economics of the retrofit became clear, according to Gregory D. Brown, chairman of the board of BR Williams. “The program has been a lot better than I’d expected,” he added. “The product technology is very impressive. We realized we needed much brighter light in some areas because of the nature of the work, and our employees are very pleased now.”