Rising energy costs spur county innovation

By Dan Miller
Staff Writer

Over the past decade energy costs have soared. Unleaded regular gasoline averaged $1.27 per gallon in 1996. Now, it’s $2.88 per gallon. Home heating oil jumped from $1.04 per gallon in 1996 to $2.41 today. The price of natural gas for commercial customers skipped from $5 per thousand cubic feet in December 1995 to $14.31 in December 2005

"Anyone in county government throughout the U.S. should be able to read the tea leaves," said Allan O’Shea, Manistee County, Mich. chairman. "People are experiencing huge cost overruns on fuel that have caused a great deal of pain for all the taxpayers."

In response to these soaring energy costs, counties have been getting creative in devising ways to cut energy costs in their buildings and vehicles. Below is a sampling of these programs, from Arizona to Oklahoma to Maryland.

Green buildings

Mohave County received Arizona’s 2005 Governor’s Award of Merit for Energy Efficiency for the energy and natural resource savings made through its planning in the construction of its new administrative building. Energy efficient glass, lighting fixtures and air conditioning in the building, resulted in a utility savings of $21,000 per year, according to Opus West Corporation, the building’s contractor.

Opus West subcontracted to the Quest Energy Group, who used computer modeling to measure the effectiveness of various techniques.

According to Quest, occupancy sensors alone saved $5,530 in energy costs. Additionally, extra insulation beyond code and recycled water saved the county nearly $14,000 per year.

"It’s a matter of efficiency to design for a wise conservation of energy," said Ron Walker, Mohave County manager. "These investments pay off year after year. Conservation design is just a smart way to do business."

Plug-In Partners campaign

Oklahoma County, Okla., Sarasota County, Fla. and Travis County, Texas are all members of Plug-In Partners, a national grass-roots initiative designed to show automakers that a market for flexible-fuel Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV).

The campaign aims to demonstrate this viability through three main ways: gathering endorsements by municipalities across the country, procuring "soft" fleet orders (promises by members to strongly consider purchasing flexible fuel plug-in hybrids when the vehicles are affordable) and developing rebates and incentives for participating members who choose to purchase the vehicles.

Other partners in the Plug-In Partner campaign include other state and local governments as well as utility groups and various nonprofits. So far, 28 city governments have signed on.

Visit the Plug-In Partners Web site at www.pluginpartners.org.

Alternative fuel fleets

King County, Wash. and the city and county of San Francisco have stepped forward as leaders in the use of alternative fuels, promoting clean air and encouraging the use of renewable energy.

King County’s fleet division currently operates 140 hybrid vehicles, with another 35 to be added before the end of the year. The division’s goal, however, is to convert 50 percent of all county vehicles to green vehicles by 2012 and 75 percent by 2016. Additionally, the fleet’s goal is to increase fuel efficiency by 10 percent by 2016 and 25 percent by 2020. The fleet aims to use a 20-percent mix of bio-diesel fuel in all heavy-duty equipment by this year.

On a more immediate note, Windell Mitchell, fleet administration director, is encouraging county employees to reduce idling time and use battery power. Such practices, he says, can reduce fuel consumption 5 percent to 10 percent.

"By encouraging employees to use strategies such as planning their trip to avoid congestion, carpooling and staying on top of maintenance, we can all be part of the daily mantra of becoming more environmentally conscious Ñ even while we’re working," he said.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently issued an executive directive intended to increase the pace of the municipal use of biodiesel fuel. The directive states that department fleet managers must identify the equipment and vehicles that can be most quickly transitioned to biodiesel and modify them appropriately.

Additionally, all diesel-using departments must draft reports listing all applicable machinery and begin using a B20 biodiesel blend as soon as practicable. The project should be completed by the end of 2007.

"This makes San Francisco the largest U.S. city ever to institute such broad bio-diesel use," said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board. "The mayor’s leadership in taking his city diesel fleet to B20 is a demonstration of true commitments to the environment and to weaning ourselves from foreign oil."

Some counties are reaching beyond their own need to reduce energy costs to help their citizens. Boulder County, Colo., for example, has partnered with the Center for ReSource Conservation (CRC) for the Energy Audit Pilot Program. The program helps county homeowners understand their energy consumption patterns and be aware of opportunities for cost-effective conservation measures.

To participate in the program homeowners must call the CRC to schedule a home visit. Looking at the residents’ past 12 months’ utility bills and touring the house, the program manager will do a preliminary analysis and decide on the simple options for increasing energy efficiency. After that, a professional energy auditor undertakes a technical audit. The technical audit includes a building envelope/shell audit, an insulation assessment, blower door test, heating and cooling system/hot water assessment as well as an appliance audit.

The audits cost between $100 and $250 for the homeowner, depending on the size of the house.

Energy plan for large growth

Kane County, Ill.’s expected growth is staggering. According to Illinois’ Community Energy Cooperative, the county’s population is expected to increase by 70 percent over the next 25 years.

As a result, the county was the subject of a state and federally funded project to identify energy efficiency measures. Launched in 2004, the Kane County project stemmed from Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s Opportunity Returns economic development program to create jobs and promote economic growth.

County leaders wanted to put the issue of energy on par with other development issues in the county. By conducting the study, officials hoped that citizens would be less impacted by new infrastructure, such as power lines and substations.

The plan, completed last October, proposed a set of strategies to reduce the growth rate of electricity use by 30 percent. It claims to lower energy costs for residents, businesses and government, reduce the need for infrastructure and improve the environment through a variety of steps.

For instance, the plan recommends that the county and its utilities jointly set energy reduction goals and make a commission to implement and monitor its strategies. Additionally, the county should lead by example and go beyond minimum building codes and receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Online energy auctions

Montgomery County, Md., along with 17 other county-based organizations, is poised to realize major savings in energy thanks to a series of online energy auctions using the World Energy Exchange. The goal of the auctions was to provide the 18-member aggregation group with the least expensive electricity supply for their respective buildings.

Over the course of two days, March 21 and 22, 68 individual auctions took place to determine the best available combination of purchasing options, including 12-, 24- and 36-month contract terms and various electrical load options for accounts of varying sizes. In all, 292 bids were placed with suppliers bidding progressively lower prices.

The savings accrued by the consortium ranged from 15 percent to 25 percent off current standard offer load pricing.

"By pooling our collective purchasing power and through utilization of the online bidding process, we have been able to achieve some $25 million in savings over the life of the contracts," said Steve Nash, chief of the engineering and management services section of Montgomery County’s division of operations. "The combination of knowing when to go to market, the auction’s ability to squeeze prices to the bare minimum and the supplier relationships provided over the exchange greatly exceeded our expectations."

The electricity purchased over the exchange will power more than 2,400 accounts, including more than 616 buildings and other facilities within the county’s Division of Operations, Public Schools, Montgomery College and National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Included in the procurement process was purchase of supply for streetlights and traffic signals.

For more information on the World Energy Exchange, go to www.worldenergy.com/government.

Energy Fair

Manistee County, Mich. has undertaken a statewide effort to bring energy awareness, efficiency and conservation applications into the public consciousness.

The county teamed up with a nonprofit organization called the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association to plan an energy fair to be held June 16-18 on the county fairgrounds. The county also enlisted help from surrounding counties, a state grant and corporate sponsors.

The fair will feature workshops on topics like green building, solar architecture, small wind systems, energy efficiency upgrades and alternative fuel vehicles, as well as providing food and entertainment for guests. Keynote speakers include Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell and Dr. Daniel D. Chiras, an author and expert on green technologies, who will discuss America’s addiction to fossil fuels.

Allan O’Shea, county commission chairman, wants the event to be a casual environment where citizens can gain knowledge about the cost of energy.

"There are many, many symposiums and expos throughout the U.S. for the folks in-the-know Ñ people involved in government or in the energy business," O’Shea said. "But there are very few of them that bring together these folks with the average resident that is struggling to keep their heads above water with these costs."

O’Shea expects more than 5,000 people to attend the fair in its first year.

"We plan on this event lasting many years to come," O’Shea said.

To learn more about the event, visit www.glrea.org.