Palace Casino recognized for energy efficiency efforts

The Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi recently completed the first phase of an energy efficiency upgrade by converting its 236 guest rooms to LED lighting.

The project, which began in October, required more than 3,000 light fixtures to be converted, resulting in an energy savings of more than 157,000 kilowatt hours per year.

“We’ve already seen a legitimate impact to our bottom line because of this lighting conversion,” Palace Casino Resort General Manager Keith Crosby said. “We’re reducing our cost of business which in turn allows us to direct those resources to attracting more visitors to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”

In June 2014, the Mississippi Public Service Commission approved Mississippi Power’s Energy Efficiency Program, which provides a variety of incentives for residential, commercial and industrial customers to promote energy savings.

The Palace Casino Resort took advantage of the Large Commercial and Industrial Prescriptive and Custom Program, which provides facility walkthroughs and helps customers identify opportunities and analyze associated costs of the installation of energy efficiency measures.

“This project was a true partnership between the Palace Casino Resort and Mississippi Power’s marketing and energy efficiency experts,” Mississippi Power CSO Vice President Nicole Faulk said. “We are dedicated to helping our customers lower their overall energy costs and make smart energy choices.”

Plans are already in place to continue energy efficiency improvements at the casino in 2016.

“We are going to convert the parking lot to LED lighting,” Leon DeJean, facilities director at the Palace Casino Resort, said. “We are also planning to install occupancy sensors in our hotel rooms so we can reduce our usage when our guests leave their room.”