December 2019
Member Spotlight
In 2019, SECC will be recognizing a member each month, providing an organizational profile and highlighting the member's accomplishments and output in the smart energy space.
About IGS
As the largest privately held energy retailer in the nation, the IGS family of companies provides the following to more than one million customers across the country: natural gas, electricity and home warranty products; power generation solutions off the grid; and solar solutions. The company empowers consumers to make choices that best fit their energy needs. IGS’ social responsibility program, IGS Impact, provides employees with opportunities to get involved with causes that are meaningful to both them and the company’s mission.
How IGS Advances Energy Sustainability, Renewables Throughout Its Lines of Business
It’s a simple, yet inspiring goal: To build a meaningful energy future together. Changing customer expectations, an increased focus on environmental impact and limited natural resources require energy companies like IGS to be forward thinking and committed to doing the right thing.
Moving the needle to reduce environmental impact and making energy easier to understand isn’t an overnight process. By offering products and services designed to manage energy sustainably across all its lines of business, IGS is making strides in achieving its purpose.
Solar: Increase in Solar Usage for a Wide Range of Customers
IGS understands the positive impact renewable energy delivers in the consumption and management of energy for a wide variety of users. That’s why the company works to make solar accessible to commercial, residential, community and municipality/utility customers. For these customers, the IGS solar model was designed to simplify the process and help maximize overall return on investment. IGS provides the upfront capital investment and manages the entire project life cycle. Then, customers simply sign a power purchase agreement (PPA), which offers an easy, customized payment plan to purchase the energy the system produces.
And that process has proven successful. With projects that produce 81 megawatts in 19 states, IGS develops, owns and operates solar projects on behalf of its customers, providing working capital, risk mitigation and smooth project delivery.
Green Residential Offerings
From purchasing carbon offsets for carbon-neutral natural gas and renewable energy credits (RECs) for green electricity, the company is heavily invested in providing environmentally responsible products. When customers choose green electricity, IGS purchases RECs that support renewable energy projects, such as solar arrays and wind farms.
As for carbon offsets, consumers who purchase IGS’ carbon-neutral natural gas product can effectively counteract their carbon dioxide emissions by funding projects that reduce carbon from the atmosphere. These projects consist of activities like reforestation and a variety of other carbon capture efforts.
LED Lighting Solutions for Commercial & Industrial Customers
IGS offers businesses the ability to harness the advantages of LED lighting without the challenges of selecting and coordinating with contractors for design and installation. Retrofitting facilities with LED lighting helps reduce overall electricity consumption for significant cost savings.
LED lighting offers countless advantages over traditional incandescent and florescent options. In fact, it’s up to 75 percent more efficient and lasts up to 25 times longer than traditional systems customers may have now.
IGS Labs: Energy Monitoring & Controls
IGS commits significant investment in innovation projects designed to reduce overall energy consumption and to encourage sustainability and responsible energy use. IGS Labs develops new technologies to meet evolving customer demands and advance renewable energy initiatives.
For example, IGS is developing and implementing an innovative pilot-status energy-monitoring program that gives customers real-time insight into how much energy their normal business operations use. The pilot software does so by isolating certain processes from other operations throughout the users’ facilities. The data is then delivered to them through a customized digital dashboard and helps them optimize their process to conserve energy and save money.
IGS: Committed to Conscious Capitalism and Social Impact
In addition to environmentally friendly lines of business, IGS is also committed to the principles of Conscious Capitalism and using its business as a force for good in the world. IGS Impact, the company’s community investment program, focuses giving in three main causes:
- Helping individuals and communities reduce their energy-related impact on the planet
- Stimulating social entrepreneurship
- Causes where IGS employees volunteer.
For example, IGS partners with GRID Alternatives to meet critical energy access gaps in communities in Nicaragua and Mexico by bringing solar power to schools, health clinics, homes, farms, orphanages and small businesses. In fact, nine IGS employees recently returned from Tijuana, Mexico, where they installed a solar power array at an orphanage that houses almost 40 children.
To learn more about IGS, please contact them here.
