Energy service company
An energy service company (ESCO) is a company that provides a broad range of energy solutions including designs and implementation of energy savings projects, retrofitting, energy conservation, energy infrastructure outsourcing, power generation, energy supply, and risk management. A newer breed of ESCO includes innovative financing methods, such as off-balance sheet mechanisms, a range of applicable equipment configured in such a way that reduces the energy cost of a building. The ESCO starts by performing an analysis of the property, designs an energy efficient solution, installs the required elements, and maintains the system to ensure energy savings during the payback period. The savings in energy costs are often used to pay back the capital investment of the project over a five to twenty years period or reinvested into the building to allow the capital upgrades that may otherwise be unfeasible. If the project does not provide returns on the investment, the ESCO is often responsible to pay the difference. History The beginning The start of the energy services business can be attributed to the energy crisis of the late 1970s, as entrepreneurs developed ways to combat the rise in energy costs. One of the earliest examples was a company in Texas,