Belmonts ESCO Experience Savings and Heightened Consciousness about Resource Use

What is an ESCO? Energy Services Company (ESCO) – Develop and design energy efficiency project – Install and maintain energy efficiency equipment – Verify energy savings – Assume the risk that the project will save guaranteed amount of energy Projects are designed to be cash neutral – savings in operating budget utility lines pay for infrastructure investments

Belmonts Physical Plant 915K sq. ft. total Included in RFP – 810K sq. ft. 7 school buildings ~700K sq ft PD, Library, 2 DPW, Rink, Light Dept – $933 total annual utility costs (2002)

Belmonts Process Jan 2003 – Ad Hoc Committee formed under BMLD – RFP developed and advertised – 2 responses April 2004 – Town Meeting Building Committee appointed. Education process: – Eileen McHugh – DOER Rebuild America – Peregrine Group – CitiCapital

Process cont. Oct 2004 – Letter of intent signed Feb 2005 – Received Detailed Energy Audit June 2005 – Signed Contract and Lease Agreement Sept 2005 to April 2006 – Construction July 2006 – Loan payments begin – Measurement and Verification phase

Project 10 year agreement 12 – 5 town and 7 school buildings included $1.7M – Total project cost – $1.1M – Cost of Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) – $600K – Cost of capital equipment investment $202K – Total projected annual savings

ECMs and Capital Investment Lighting improvements and controls. Replaced: – 21,081 light bulbs – 8,346 ballasts Water conservation measures. Replaced or up-graded: – 475 plumbing fixtures Energy Management Systems Boiler Controllers Pool cover Vending machine controllers Steam trap repair Capital investment – 6 RTUs

Issues What does M&V really mean? This does cost money. Why choose to do it? Political aspect of doing a town-wide project. DOER is a great resource. Starting point for an energy and resources policy.