The City of Goshen received a $130,163.30 energy efficiency incentive payment from NIPSCO for recent upgrades to the City’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).
The upgrades are part of a larger plant-wide improvements project to increase the treatment capacity and improve the efficiency of the WWTP.
Highlighted energy efficiency upgrades include replacing two prior constant speed blowers with two new variable speed high-efficiency turbo blowers, implementation of a new automated dissolved oxygen control program, and replacement of two old boilers with new higher-efficiency boilers.
The new blowers and dissolved oxygen control program have been in operation for two months and the boilers are expected to be fully operational by the end of July, which will conclude all major process upgrades associated with the project.
This upgraded equipment will reduce the operational costs and carbon footprint of the WWTP and represent a large step towards the City’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035.
“The Wastewater Utility and its staff are a vital resource for the City of Goshen,” Administrative City Engineer Bryce Gast said. “This upgrade provides the Utility with the tools necessary to continue its excellent performance while greatly improving the efficiency of the WWTP. The improvements will simultaneously benefit the Utility’s customers and the environment, a benefit that is further magnified by NIPSCO’s generous incentive program.”
The incentive comes from NIPSCO’s Custom Incentive Program, which rewards participating agricultural, large commercial, governmental, industrial, and non-profit customers for making electric and natural gas energy efficiency improvements.
Qualifying customers must submit an incentive application and satisfactorily demonstrate the energy savings of their proposed improvements prior to implementing them. After review and acceptance of the application the customer may begin the project; and, upon completion and final review of the project, are awarded the incentive.
The incentive payment will be returned to the Utility’s general fund and will be used to help fund continued operation of the WWTP and future projects. “As the City completes the improvements at the wastewater treatment plant, being able to celebrate the end of project with an acknowledgement and monetary return from NIPSCO feels like a double success,” Director of Public Works Dustin Sailor said. “I want to express my personal thanks to NIPSCO for offering this program and to Administrative City Engineer, Bryce Gast, who oversaw the construction project and completed necessary paperwork for this rebate.”