Aug. 25, 2008 - Jetro Cash and Carry, a restaurant supply firm, has completed an energy efficiency upgrade at its Jersey City, N.J., retail outlet that the company says will save more than $40,000 a year - a return on investment of just 13 months.

The retrofit project - the first in a series of energy upgrades at 13 Jetro locations throughout the U.S. - are expected to save upward of 330,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and 600,000 pounds of greenhouse gases, according to the company.

The improvements offer other benefits as well, according to Richard Kirschner, Jetro's CEO. "The new lighting fixtures actually make the store brighter even though they use less energy," he says.

"There is a substantial amount of money to be saved from reduced energy use these days because of the high rates," adds Jetro vice president Peter Claro.

Jetro contracted with energy services provider Lime Energy, which netted a $26,000 rebate from the New Jersey SmartStart program to help finance the project. The company will work with Jetro on the next 12 upgrade projects as well.