Here's some good news for restaurant owners in New York City and Westchester County. Food establishments that are natural gas or electricity customers of Con Edison may be eligible to earn cash rebates and incentives to install energy-efficiency measures that can help reduce energy use, lower operating costs, and reduce carbon footprint. Additional benefits include increased customer comfort, better lighting, repeat business, and increased employee productivity. If you are ready to transform your restaurant into a high-performance establishment, the Con Edison Green Team can help with rebates, incentives and technical expertise available through the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Energy Efficiency Program. These rebates and incentives help restaurants lower the capital investment required to implement energy-saving technologies. Restaurants can save up to 50%, or up to $67,000, toward the cost of an energy efficiency study to evaluate its gas and electric use and recommend steps to increase energy efficiency. Restaurants that plan to invest in high efficiency gas and electric equipment can save substantially through the C&I Equipment Rebate Program. Lighting upgrades, for example, can be a quick fix to save energy use and costs while improving comfort for customers and working conditions for employees. The Equipment Rebate Program offers rebates for T8 or T5 lighting systems, LEDs, and motion sensors/controls. For the Heartland Brewing Company, upgrading to LEDs in four of their New York City restaurants provided an energy-efficient and maintenance-free lighting solution. The restaurant received $40,000 from the C&I program for the LED retrofit. With LEDs installed in the bar, dining areas and bathrooms, restaurant owner Richard Pietromonaco expects to save an estimated 313,000 kWh and $56,000 in electrical costs annually. "In addition to reducing our energy and maintenance needs, combining the lighting upgrades with the rebates from Con Edison results in a significant return on our investment," said Pietromonaco. Rebates are also available for high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and refrigeration equipment through the C&I Rebate Program. Restaurants can get performance-based incentives for installing energy-efficient technologies not covered under the Rebate Program through the C&I Custom Program, which focuses on total energy savings per project, with payment based on expected performance. David Pospisil is program manager of Con Edison's Commercial & Industrial Energy Efficiency Program, New York, N.Y.