DANE COUNTY LEADS THE WAY ON ENERGY TO SAVE LIVES, JOBS and MONEY
I attended an event with Governor Doyle today for the Clean Energy Wisconsin Plan release. It reminded me that Dane County is leading the way on energy efficiency.
For more on the Governor's plan, see www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/Mar08/mar25/0325doylecleanenergy.pdf.
Across America, counties are leading the way with renewable and energy efficiency measures that save energy, jobs, cut pollution, and help hold the line on property tax growth. Saving energy takes a plan and steady effort, but pays big dividends.
In Dane County, we annually save taxpayers $142,000 and reduce greenhouse air pollution by almost 5 million pounds. We paid for the improvements working with our local utilities and performance contractors like Johnson Controls.
Saving energy is about making people safer and more comfortable in their homes, as I learned as an Energy Conservation Advocate in the Carter Administration during the 70’s energy crisis. I was doing an energy assessment for a senior citizen who told me how the insulation and energy improvements kept water from freezing in her sink at night. That is real progress.
Where to Start
Start by assessing your buildings. When first elected 10 years ago, I asked our facilities staff about energy building profiles. We worked with county and state Focus on Energy Program staff to assess energy use and solutions, and set priorities.
Those assessments showed it would cost $1.17 million to upgrade our buildings, saving $213,000 per year with an 18% return on investment. See more on the graph below. Wish my investments were making 18% guaranteed return. We are still implementing this program for savings.
Dane County Potential Energy Savings
Cost of Energy Improvements $1,175,865
Cost of Energy Improvements $1,175,865
Annual Savings $ 213,158
Return on Investment 18%
Energy Saved Megawatt Hours 2,489
CO2 Reduced 6 million pounds +
We are not alone. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that local governments could save $3.4 billion with more energy efficiency. That works about to about $65 million in Wisconsin, which could provide significant potential property tax relief. State and federal governments could save billions more.
But this saves more than money. One of our first projects at the Badger Prairie Nursing Home installed variable lighting so that nurses could check on patients during the night without waking them, helping patients sleep better.
It Pays to Save
There is an old saying that you have to spend money to make money. There are three ways you can pay for energy improvements, or combine all three.
Pay with your capitol budget and reap the benefits in your operating budget. For instance, spending $100,000 for lighting and chiller upgrades could save $18,000 a year on energy costs in your operating budget. Your annual interest costs are about $4,000, so your net savings is $14,000 per year. That can pay for a lot of Meals on Wheels for seniors.
Work with performance contractors like Johnson Controls and our utilities, Alliant and MG&E, to install efficiency measures. They pay for the improvements out of the energy savings, then pass the savings on after the investment is paid for. This costs you nothing up front.
Use state grants. Legislators expanded funding for local government energy programs through Focus on Energy for state grants and loans for efficiency and renewable energy programs. For more, go to http://www.focusonenergy.org/ or check with your Focus contact.
Possible Budget Items
We worked with our Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and County Board on budget measures to reduce energy waste like:
Investing in major window and lighting replacement for the City-County Building, Highway offices and the Zoo, along with solar panels, major roof and heating improvements for energy conservation.
Three new Harleys for the Sheriff’s traffic safety team that get 45 miles per gallon, three times better than the typical cruiser.
We capture and burn landfill gas for electricity now. The landfill is exploring converting methane into natural gas for pipelines or vehicles.
Purchasing bio-diesel and E 85 fuel for the county fleet. Barron and La Crosse Counties run many of their vehicles on biodiesel in the summer time also. This helps local farmers and reduced air pollution by 50-80%. Many departments are purchasing hybrid vehicles also.
Energy Star Challenge
The National Association of Counties (NACo) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program are working with counties across the country on the Energy Star Challenge. Energy Star is a joint program of the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy which helps save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.
The Energy Star Challenge encourages Americans to improve their energy efficiency by 10 percent or more. Counties play a dual role in the Challenge – they lead by example by improving their own buildings and they leverage their relationships with private sector organizations to motivate them to make energy efficiency improvements.
Joining the Energy Star Challenge has several advantages, including:
· Access to a “tool kit” to help counties promote energy efficiency not only in their own buildings but also for the broader community, including commercial offices, retailers, health care organizations, schools, small businesses, congregations, and others.
· Assistance in meeting climate change goals. The EPA’s Energy Star program has saved Americans $14 billion on energy bills in 2006 alone, and prevented the release of greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 25 million vehicles.
· Access to NACo training and information to further efficiency and save energy.
Almost 50 counties from 23 different states have joined the Energy Star Challenge to date, see www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=technical_assistance&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=22144 for more information.
One Bright Idea
We are now turning our efforts towards more county departments and getting the citizens involved by helping people buy 10,000 efficient light bulbs. We worked with Focus on Energy and a local hardware store to sell more efficient bulbs. If everyone in Dane County put in five energy efficient light bulbs, it would equal the energy output from a 125 megawatt power plant. These efficient light bulbs offer a 200% return on investment by cutting electricity costs, but do have to be disposed of properly because they contain mercury.
Commit to Save
You need to have the support of your board to make progress. I started with a few budget measures and resolutions to save money and worked up to resolutions to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050. We set up an Energy Independence Committee to explore ways to do better. We made this a subcommittee of the Public Work, Environment and Personnel and Finance Committees to get going as quickly as possible.
Biomass is a Good Start
One Department of Energy study showed that Wisconsin leads the nation in biomass used for energy, thanks to our paper industry. Another study showed we have 15 million tons of excess biomass like wood, corn stover, manure, and grasses. If we burned these, we could displace about half of our coal usage and give this money to farmers rather than coal companies. Agrecol heats their buildings with grass and other plant pellets they make onsite.
One Answer is Blowing in the Wind
One good renewable energy source is the wind. We will purchase 20% of the Dane County Regional Airport’s electricity using renewable windpower at no cost to taxpayers. We started with the airport enterprise account and can pass those costs onto airport users. The best way to reduce the need for new power plants and power lines is to use less energy and buy more renewable energy.
Wind energy has really helped Iowa County with the Montford Wind Farm and MG&E and Alliant are building farms in northeast Wisconsin. Dane County is now considering our first wind farm in the Town of Springfield.
Taking Action on Climate Change
With major global warming initiatives at the state and federal level, counties can be ahead of the curve. We can do things to reduce greenhouse gases while others talk about it.
“Now is the time to act on climate change,” said UW Professor Emeritus John Magnuson, author of a Union of Concerned Scientist study on global warming impacts to Great Lakes and member of the IPCC. “Climate change is all about water--more flooding and drought. We expect that springs will be wetter, summers drier, and falls wetter. More extreme rainfall and snowfall events will cause more flooding.”
Last year, Dane County joined with 9 other counties and the Sierra Club to start the Cool Counties Campaign to reduce global warming and save money.
There are three main strategies to keep track of CO2 reductions:
1. Register your savings with the DNR or state agency. Dane County was the county in the state to register greenhouse emissions reductions with the DNR. This is easy and has no regrets.
2. Register your savings with the Chicago Climate Exchange.Com like the Farm Bureau and Farmers Union are. You may be able to make money with CO2 savings.
3. Join ICLEI, local governments for sustainability and climate action, has a good guidebook for CO2 reduction, see www.iclei.org/us.
We are still assessing which one is best for us.
Green Building Policy
Lowering the lifetime energy costs of new buildings is important too. We have a policy to make new building as green as possible and our new courthouse will cut electrical costs 50% over a typical building.
Yes, We Can!
Counties’ efforts prove we can make real progress to tackle big problems like energy waste and global warming by taking concrete actions. We can act locally for a better future. Let me know if we can help you.
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Supervisor Brett Hulsey chairs the Dane County Personnel and Finance Committee, is a member of the National Association of Counties Green Government Advisory Committee, and is President of Better Environmental Solutions, an environmental and energy consulting firm.
