Please Note:

Due to strong demand for Me² incentives and financing, the Me² business program is no longer directly offering federal rebates for projects. However, Me² still offers financing, and has teamed up with the Focus on Energy Small Business program to help you reduce your energy bills and improve your building.  

Me² Can Benefit Your Business!

Energy costs are an on-going expense that can reduce a business's profitability, but there's often no time or resources to think about how to reduce those costs. If your businesses is located in the City of Milwaukee, Me² can help.

With our innovative financing options, businesses can reinvest a portion of their energy budget into building improvements, which will save energy and improve the comfort and value of the property. Whether your business is a corner convenience store or in a large downtown office building, Me² has the resources and expertise to help you save energy.

Me² has a Small Buildings program and Large Buildings program. Select the one that's right for you.

1 - Small Buildings

The Me² & Focus on Energy Small Business Program provides free assessments to identify energy saving opportunities. The program helps you start saving energy and money right away, with the immediate installation of FREE energy-saving products such as lighting and faucet aerators. For just $129, you will also have the option to upgrade your FREE product package to include even more energy-saving lighting products. Then, Me² provides financing from Summit Credit Union to help you afford bigger projects for exterior lighting, new heating or cooling equipment, refrigeration, etc.

The Small Business Program is designed for customers that use less than 100kW of electricity, and operate in a variety of fields, including, but not limited to:

FREE Energy-Saving Product Package
• Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs  & reflectors to replace incandescent or recessed lights
• Vending machine controllers for cold drink machines
• Faucet aerators
• One free LED “OPEN sign to replacing an existing neon “OPEN” sign
• External coffeemaker heating timer

Upgrade for just $129 and your representative will install all of the FREE products, plus:
• LED exit signs
• Unlimited T12/T8 de-lamping (removal of redundant bulbs)
• Wall Box Occupancy sensors
• Interior (36 watt) and exterior (18 watt) hardwired fixtures (replacing existing fixtures)
• 4' T12 to T8 lighting retrofits (maximum includes 4' and 8' lamps)
• 1” hot water pipe wrap
• 42-watt compact fluorescent bulbs
• Walk-in cooler strip curtains
• De-lamping of metal halide fixtures
• Additional energy saving products are available at reduced rates.

Contact your local Me² representative, Timm Heck at (414) 333-2368
or sign up using our online Business Form.

+ Summit Credit Union Financing

Summit Credit Union provides financing for energy efficiency projects between $5,000 and $20,000 so you can make energy saving improvements with no upfront costs.

If you have any questions regarding the loan process, contact Dana Hoffmann at 800-236-5560 ext. 2862 or Scott Hoerth at 800-236-5560 ext. 1251

You must use a Participating Me² contractor to receive rebates and financing. Contractors with the “Focus on Energy Small Business” icon can perform the initial lighting upgrades.

2 - Large Buildings

Me² pairs incentives from the Focus on Energy program with the innovative Clean Energy Financing option. Focus on Energy, provides rebates and incentives for your energy saving projects. To get started on a project with Focus on Energy incentives contact one of our Participating Me² contractors.

+ Clean Energy Financing Program

Energy-efficiency projects between $20,000 and $5 million. The Clean Energy Financing program helps make energy efficiency projects work for your bottom line.

Clean Energy Financing (similar to other “PACE financing” programs around the nation) allows a property owner to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements without a large up-front cash payment The property owners that voluntarily choose to participate in the Clean Energy Financing program repay their improvement costs over a set time period—typically 10 to 20 years—through municipal special charges, which are secured by the property itself and paid as an addition to the owners’ property tax bills. Nonpayment generally results in the same set of repercussions as the failure to pay any other portion of a property tax bill.

You could create a win-win situation for you and your tenants, when the tenants pay the energy bills. The Me² Clean Energy Financing Program allows property owners to finance energy-efficiency upgrades and pass those costs on to the tenants (depending on your specific lease terms) through a Municipal Special Charge from the City of Milwaukee. The best part—tenants’ savings are greater than the charge and the owner gets a better, more valuable building. Clean Energy Financing can also extend the financing terms ten to twenty years, thereby aligning the annual financing costs with annual energy savings, so you come out ahead. Learn more.

For questions on Clean Energy Financing, contact Erick Shambarger at (414) 286-8556 or email eshamb@milwaukee.gov.  

Energy Efficiency = A Smart Investment

Do what’s right for your business. Participate in Me².
Start saving energy and money day after day, year after year.

The Me² program (including WECC and the City of Milwaukee) does not endorse or guarantee the work or services of any particular consultant or contractor. Me² program participants will be entering into direct relationships with the consultant or contractor of choice.

Introducing the Milwaukee Better Business Challenge 

MKE Better Buildings Challenge

Journal Sentinel Article

 
Want to know more...

For more information:
Business Overview Sheet

Me² Success Story 

The Newport at 1610 N. Prospect Ave. is Milwaukee’s first property to take advantage of Commercial Me². The $692,000 proposal on the co-op apartment building, developed by Johnson Controls will renew the building’s boiler, chiller and control systems. It will slash the building’s energy bill by at least $48,000 each year, saving more than 15% of its utility consumption. With Me², building owners are able to distribute costs over time so upgrades can be made without raising the tenants’ association fees.

15% efficiency boost

Return on investment is an
essential metric for businesses and it’s no different with Me². Projects must target a minimum of 15% in estimated energy savings. This amount helps your projects pay for themselves and keeps generating energy savings in the future.

Proof positive

• On average, buildings use 30% of their energy inefficiently or unnecessarily.
(Source: energystar.gov)
• 78% of respondents across office, retail, education, and healthcare sectors plan to do energy-efficiency projects in the next two years.
(Source: “Business Case for Energy Efficient Building Retrofit and Renovation,” McGraw-Hill Construction)