Energy cost is a big budget issue for many companies, but many are making strides to cut those costs.Business leaders, legislators, and clean energy advocates toured a local plant that has made the change.News 12's Erick Lind has more.John Sacco is the president at Ameristar.Even though his company's building is less than a decade old, he's made it even more efficient... thanks to help from the Retrofit Companies out of Owatonna.Sacco says, "Kind of questioned him, 'How can we save money? It's a brand new building and brand new lights,' but he was right with less energy and I'd say about 3 times the candle power."The importance of replacing the lights is more than just conserving energy. It's also conserving money for the corporation plus it's keeping people employed.Senator Kathy Sheran says, "Those things that affect global warming, reduced emissions, reduced dependency on foreign oil with business with creation of jobs with cost savings for businesses. We want to braid those things together, and this company is helping demonstrate how that can happen."Steve Kath was the one who cut Ameristar's energy cost by 8 percent with 121 new fixtures each with 5 new bulbs... resulting in a savings of four thousand dollars a year.The Retrofit Companies president Steve Kath says, "If they're saving money hopefully their bottom line looks better, and like most small companies, most small businesses, they're willing to invest that money back into their company to either expand into another segment of business or increase the volume of business that they're doing."That's also allowed Kath to expand his company.Kath says, "Lot of people are interested in saving money, it's the difference of when would they take action and actually implement them right now."Rebates helped Sacco pay for the upgrade, but it's the end result that is paying off the investment.In Mankato, Erick Lind, News 12.