Southwest Gas rebates detailed at Carson City lunch

Southwest Gas has energy efficiency rebate programs for businesses and homeowners.

Maxwell Hughes, energy solutions project adviser, and Melissa Porch, regulation and energy efficiency analyst, with the utility outlined some of the programs during Northern Nevada Development Authority’s monthly lunch Wednesday in the Casino Fandango ballroom.

For those installing a tankless water heater, for example, Southwest Gas will rebate residential users $225 and commercial users $1,450, said Porch, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The average cost for home solar installations is $11,000, said Porch, and Southwest Gas rebates $3,500.

The solar installations must be pre-approved by the company while items such as the tankless water heater can receive rebates after installation.

Hughes works with federal government customers to retrofit facilities for energy efficiency under the company’s utility energy service contract. The contracts are paid for through the savings realized in energy costs for a set period of time.

He is now working with Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas and the Phoenix Indian Medical Center in Arizona.

Hughes also talked about the company’s compressed natural gas stations, including one in Lake Tahoe, used for vehicle fleets, and renewable natural gas captured from landfills, wastewater treatment and food and agriculture waste.

“It’s a way to remove and reuse some of the energy that we use every day,” said Hughes.

Southwest Gas, established in 1931, has 2 million customer in three states, including 700,000 customers in Nevada.

For information on the rebate programs, visit https://www.swgas.com/en/residential-rebates-and-promotions.