EMCOR Services Mesa Energy Systems helped Molina Healthcare obtain $1 million in rebates ($997,500 to be exact) through Southern California Edison’s Permanent Load Shift program as the result of a major retrofit project it performed at the Molina Center complex in Long Beach, Calif.

A leading mechanical services company with operations throughout California, Arizona, and Nevada, EMCOR Services Mesa Energy Systems is a subsidiary of EMCOR Group, Inc.

EMCOR Services Mesa Energy Systems was able to help Molina Center obtain the incentive rebate of $997,500 due to the results of the multi-phase design and installation project it completed which involved an innovative thermal energy storage system that redistributes energy used for cooling during on-peak hours (when demand and costs are highest), to off-peak hours. Mesa engineered the TES system to shift 950 tons of energy off the on-peak period, reducing the overall utility demand by 1,140 kWs, and reducing annual energy consumption by 755,775 kWhs.

“The Molina Center project was a complex undertaking that overhauled the facility’s central plant,” stated Robert Lake, president, EMCOR Services Mesa Energy Systems.  "In addition to the $997,500 rebate from the utility company’s incentive program for the sustainable, innovative solution, which we were able to help obtain for our client and which significantly offset the cost of the project, the customer expects the retrofit will enable the Molina Center to realize nearly $250,000 in additional energy savings annually.

Phase one of the Molina Center project included installing new cooling towers between two parking structures, as well as building a brand new modular chiller plant near the building’s loading dock area.  The second phase entailed installation of the new energy-efficient, 6,000 ton-hour ice-based thermal energy storage system, which was added concurrently to the new central plant.