A Menlo Park jewelry store and a rug gallery are two more satisfied customers of a program to provide direct-install lighting retrofits for small businesses and nonprofits. The program is a partnership between the City and San Mateo County Energy Watch. Martin Oncina, owner of Oncina Fine Jewelry, only paid $34 out of pocket to replace his store's track lighting. Through this Energy Watch program, rebates covered 98 percent of the $2,000 retrofit. The new energy-efficient lights have dramatically improved the quality of the store's lighting, displaying the jewelry at its best without raising the store's temperature, as the old lights did. Stephen Miller, owner of Stephen Miller Gallery, paid nothing to get his rug store's lighting upgraded through the program. Energy Watch rebates covered 100 percent of his $13,000 retrofit. Miller has found that the new lights not only help his customers see the true color of the rugs, but they have also cut the gallery's utility bills by more than half.


Stephen Miller and Martin Oncina