By Jim Whitkin
The New York Times
When the city of Brea, Calif., about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles, set out to reduce its carbon emissions and save money on energy costs, the challenge was the same faced by many other cities nationwide: allocating the funds to pay for the program.
Finding projects to make city buildings more energy efficient was far easier. So the city turned to a form of financing that has become common among government agencies at all levels: an energy-savings performance contract that requires no upfront costs and allows the city to pay for the project over time using the savings on utility bills.
“There is no other way we could have undertaken this scope of project in this efficient a manner or time frame,” said Charlie View, Brea’s director of public works. The project included installing high-efficiency lighting systems in 14 city buildings and 4,000 street lamps, updating heating and cooling systems at six buildings and installing 1.8 megawatts of solar panels at three sites.
An energy service company, Chevron Energy Solutions, a unit of the Chevron Corporation, performed all the work and provided all the new equipment. The company’s contract with the city guarantees the project will deliver a certain level of savings on energy costs. If the project fails to perform to the guarantee, the energy service company is on the hook to make up the difference. If savings exceed the guarantee, the city keeps the excess.
Also: Talk of a Wind Subsidy ‘Phaseout’/The New York Times
Matt Damon Film Lights Up Energy Lobby/The Wall Street Journal
Report: Green-jobs program struggling to place workers/The Hill
Time For A Plant Upgrade? Why Solar Manufacturers Should Invest Now/Solar Industry
If you’d like to discuss energy issues, contact Court Rich, crich@roselawgroup.com
