Project BEST

Operation Fuel has initiated a small business program that provides energy grants and energy conservation/cost-saving training to Connecticut small businesses. This pilot program, “Project/BEST” (Business Energy Sustainability Team), has been funded by Dominion, one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, and PSEG (Public Service Enterprise Group), parent company of PSEG Power LLC. Project/BEST offers electric bill credits to small businesses in five urban communities across the state: Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, New London and New Haven. Project/BEST will primarily target women and minority-owned small businesses in distressed communities within the five cities. PB Prog. Deadlines

To view a copy of Project/BEST’s brochure, which includes eligibility guidelines, please click here.

To learn about Project/BEST energy grants and request an application, contact:

Project/BEST
860-243-2345 x 308

More About the Announcement of Funding For

Operation Fuel’s Small Business Program:

“I’d like to thank Operation Fuel
for implementing this important
and innovative program.”

- Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy,
February 15, 201

What’s News

Small Businesses In 5 Cities Get Energy Aid
Nearly 800 small businesses in five Connecticut cities received grants from Operation Fuel’s Project/BEST this year to cover some of their electricity costs and learn how to better control their energy use. Most of the 779 businesses chosen for the $1,000 grants were owned by women or members of minority groups, the nonprofit organization said (Hartford Courant, September 13, 2012).

Non-Profit Hopes To Help Small Biz Plug Into Energy Efficiency
Small businesses are struggling to plug into energy efficiency programs, a Bloomfield-based nonprofit reported following its inaugural campaign that paid $779,000 in electricity bills for companies in the state. Bloomfield-based Operation Fuel Inc., which offers energy assistance to households, made a foray into the small business sector over the last year, launching Project BEST (Business Energy Sustainability Team), which was funded with a $1 million grant from Dominion Resources Inc. and $150,000 from energy company PSEG (Connecticut Post, September 11, 2012).

Small Biz Receive $779K In Energy Grants
Bloomfield nonprofit Operation Fuel provided $779,000 in grants to 779 Connecticut businesses to promote energy conservation. Operation Fuel launched its Project/BEST program a year ago in Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury, New London, and Bridgeport to help offset rising energy expenses and introduce conservation measures (Hartford Busines Journal, September 12, 2012).

Businesses Get Energy Assistance
A new program to help New Haven companies reduce their energy costs is on track to dole out over $100,000 in grants to city small businesses. With its initiative “Project/BEST,” private Connecticut-based nonprofit Operation Fuel has partnered with two utilities companies — Dominion Resources, Inc. of Virginia and Public Service Enterprise Group of New Jersey — to distribute $1,000 grants and run training sessions that promote energy efficiency. The initiative, which lasts through March 2, follows one in Hartford, in which 213 businesses received a total of $213,000 (Yale Daily News, February 27th, 2012).

Efficiency Workshop Slated For Thursday In New London
Operation Fuel will hold an energy efficiency workshop for small businesses Thursday at the New London Senior Center, 120 Broad St. The event is slated to run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. About 50 New London small businesses are participating in Project/ BEST, and the workshops are part of that, according to Operation Fuel (Norwich Bulletin, March 27, 2012).

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Electric Costs Hammer Small Business
by Harriet Jones, WNPR