John Ascuaga's Nugget finds that new lighting also pays benefits with cooling efficiencies

A major energy-conservation project completed at John Ascuaga's Nugget this year shows the sometimes complex ways that improvement in lighting technology can improve efficiencies in air conditioning as well.

Among the work the casino undertook was replacement of about 500 lights, each them traditional 200-watt bulbs, in the Nugget's trade show pavilion. The lights were replaced with 12.5-watt LED bulbs, says Don Apodaca, the company's executive director of facilities.

The old 200-watt bulbs generated tremendous amounts of heat that the Nugget's cooling system had to counteract, Apodaca says.

With thousands of lights in everything from ballrooms to slot machines throughout the property, the transition to LED lighting is beginning to significantly reduce the Nugget's air-conditioning costs, he says.

Shortly after he was named executive director of facilities a year ago, Apodaca began work on an energy-savings program at the two-million-square-foot property.

A priority, he says, was replacement of an air-conditioning unit running on three 60-horsepower motors. The unit was on its last legs, and the Nugget needed a replacement before summer.

Working with consultants from Sure Bet, the NV Energy program that provides rebates for commercial energy efficiency investments, Apodaca looked at replacement of the three 60-horsepower motors with a single 15-horsepower variable speed motor.

The analysis showed the $115,000 investment could be recovered within a year. In fact, the Nugget trimmed its utility bills by $60,000 during the first three months of the summer cooling season. Sure Bet provided a rebate of $4,542 on the purchase along with its technical analysis.

The program also provides a $4,718 rebate on an investment of $11,000 by the Nugget to install LED lighting. With the rebate, the company recouped its investment within two months, Apodaca says. Next he plans to upgrade lighting in the Rose Ballroom and in parking lots.

The LED lighting also saves on labor, he says. The old bulbs were replaced once a year; the LED bulbs have a life expectancy of at least seven years.

NV Energy, meanwhile, says the energy-conservation projects such as the work undertaken by John Asuaga's Nugget play a major role in reducing its need for new power plants.

The utility says the Sure Bet program worked with 342 energy-efficiency projects in northern Nevada in 2011, saving an estimated 100 gigawatt-hours of electricity enough to serve 7,800 average homes for a year.

But the Sure Bet funds ran out at mid-year in 2011 and 2012. Businesses then are placed on a wait list, and energy contractors in a focus group convened by an NV Energy contractor in 2011 said they're frustrated because they can't provide certain answers about potential rebates to their customers.

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada is expected to decide by the end of the year on the funding level for Sure Bet in 2013. NV Energy wants to budget $3.15 million for the program in northern Nevada next year, but some energy-conservation groups think the PUC should set the number even higher.

"The Sure Bet commercial program is highly successful," says Maureen Quaid, a utility analyst for the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, a Boulder, Colo., organization that's urging greater investment in Nevada's program.