CITYWIDE — To many people, a new year means hope and new beginnings, as fitting time as any to make resolutions to improve their lives over the ensuing 12 months. To businesses on the receiving end of those self-made promises, the weeks following Jan. 1 usually translates into a busy season with new clients.
“We’ve been slammed,” said Craig Nabat, owner of Freedom Laser Therapy, a clinic that helps smokers kick the nicotine habit through method that incorporates lasers and the fundamentals of acupuncture.
The clinic, located on Wilshire Boulevard, recently introduced a new weight-loss program, contributing to its post-New Year’s business. The new weight-loss program partners the clinic with celebrity fitness expert Peter Nielsen, who has developed a because customers would be buying in bulk.
The suppliers, handpicked by city staff, will offer packages for apartment dwellers, homeowners and those living in condominiums. Each package will maximize power-saving technology to offer buyers a quicker return on their investments, according to Ted Flanigan, president of EcoMotion, the consultant hired by City Hall for $480,000 to design, market and recruit 50 people interested in being the first wave of Solar Santa Monica customers.
“The challenge that we have laid out on the table is to make it as easy as possible for a participant in the program to become a Solar Santa Monica champion,” Flanigan said.“We want to make it as easy as leasing a Honda Accord.”
The program will be officially launched on Wednesday, Jan. 17, with a presentation on energy issues by Randy Udall, a well-known solar and energy policy expert. The event will be held in the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium at the Main Library at 6 p.m. Solar Santa Monica is currently operating out of a storefront office located at 1212 5th Street.
The goal is to start small at first, with about 35 single-family homes, 10 commercial buildings and five municipal buildings. If the program gains momentum, according to Flanigan, it is City Hall’s desire to have every one of the 17,500 rooftops within the city to have solar panels installed so that residents and business owners could generate their own power and potentially sell excess wattage to providers such as Southern California Edison.
Residents and businesses can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars each year by installing solar panels and other technology. It is also expected to substantially benefit the local economy by creating energy cost savings that may be re-invested locally.
It is hoped aggressive solar deployment may also provide employment opportunities for local contractors and attract new businesses to the city.
A study conducted earlier this year on the pilot program found that the project could generate an estimated net savings of $375,863, with a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the amount of 430 tons.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 4, 2007. Read the original PDF.