INSTANT DISCOUNTS By Becky Kalajian
Something’s cooking DTE partners with Gold Star Products to help customers save on energy-efficient food service equipment.
In addition, energy savings from the program have grown year over year. Jeremy Cappello, an energy efficiency program manager at DTE, estimates the total electric energy savings to be more than 10 million kilowatt-hours and the total gas savings to be more than 80,000 MCF. Together, that’s enough energy to power and heat a small town of around 1,000 to 5,000 homes for a year, depending on usage patterns.
Since opening its doors in 1923, Gold Star Products has outfitted businesses in metro Detroit and beyond with all kinds of food service equipment.
agent and Instant Discount coordinator, says partnering with DTE was a “good, common-sense measure” for the company and its customers.
The family-owned company supplies fryers, ovens, refrigerators and more to local restaurants, school districts, community centers and other large-scale operations.
“In the short term, DTE’s instant rebates directly offset new equipment costs; in the long term, the equipment often pays for itself in terms of energy [savings],” she says.
The program connects business customers and contractors with participating distributors like Gold Star to save instantly on qualifying ENERGY STAR®–rated gas and electric food service appliances.
To help its customers save money and energy, the company signed on a few years ago as a distributor in DTE’s Food Service Instant Discount Program. Natalie Judd, Gold Star’s purchasing
Since the DTE program started in 2018, more than 4,000 rebate claims have been submitted, resulting in payments exceeding $3 million total to electric and gas customers.
According to Cappello, the program was initiated with two primary objectives: first, to collaborate with distributors by providing training, marketing support and incentives aimed at increasing the
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