Big energy efficiency contracts awarded

Big energy efficiency contracts awarded

Federal agencies in 20 Midwest and central states will be retrofitted with technologies "to reduce energy costs at no cost to taxpayers," the Energy Department has announced.

Seven energy-service companies were awarded contracts worth $1.5 billion to upgrade energy-using systems and receive a negotiated share of the cost savings. The companies -- DukeSolutions of Charlotte, NC; Energy Pacific of Los Angeles; ERI Services of Bridgeport, CT; Honeywell of Minneapolis; Johnson Controls, San Diego; NORESCO of Framingham, MA; and EUA Cogenex of Lowell, MA -- won the contracts under DOE's Super Energy Savings Performance Contracts program.

The awards were part of a larger set of global warming initiatives announced by President Clinton in his most recent Saturday radio address.

Work will begin soon at federal facilities in Abilene, Kan; Ames, Iowa; Cleveland, Ohio; and San Marcos, Tex.