Rebates helping Vectren customers upgrade appliances

In an effort to encourage residential customers to upgrade their natural gas appliances to even greater efficiency, Vectren has modified its natural gas appliance rebate program, known as Conservation Connection.

The new rebate structure features a tiered system for residential natural gas storage water heaters based on the level of efficiency and the initial cost to the consumer; as the efficiency rate increases, so does the rebate amount.

Residential rebates toward energy efficient appliances as of May 1, 2011 include:

-- $200 toward a natural gas furnace (92 percent or higher efficiency rating).

-- $500 toward a natural gas residential boiler (90 percent or higher efficiency rating with space heating as the primary use).

-- $20 toward a qualified programmable thermostat.

-- $150 toward a natural gas tankless water heater (energy factor of 0.82 or higher).

-- $150 toward a natural gas storage water heater (energy factor of 0.67 or higher).

-- $50 toward a natural gas storage water heater (energy factor of 0.62 to 0.66).

The rebate amounts for tankless water heaters, furnaces and boilers were not impacted, nor were the rebate programs for small business customers.

"We want to encourage customers to choose the most energy efficient appliances possible. Although there are substantial savings in the long run, there is an increase in the initial investment," Doug Petitt, vice president of marketing and conservation, said. "With that in mind, we felt modifying our rebate structure to reflect the cost differential would be beneficial to customers."

Vectren's rebate forms can be found at http://www.vectren.com or by calling (866) 240-8476. Forms must be postmarked and submitted within 60 days of purchase. To qualify, customers must use natural gas as their primary source of heat.

The company's natural gas energy efficiency and rebate programs offered through Conservation Connection have been in place in Indiana since 2006 and have helped customers save more than 7.7 million therms of natural gas -- enough to heat approximately 9,000 homes annually. About 200,000 therms of the total savings are attributed to the water heater program alone. To date, Vectren has issued more than 7,000 tankless and storage water heater rebates to customers.

Vectren Corp. is an energy holding company headquartered in Evansville. Vectren's energy delivery subsidiaries provide gas and/or electricity to more than one million customers in adjoining service territories that cover nearly two-thirds of Indiana and west central Ohio.