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Westmoreland County Announces Energy Savings Measures for All
County Facilities
Posted 09-26-2002
The Westmoreland County Board of Commissioners today announced a contract with
NORESCO, a Division of Equitable Resources, to develop an $18 million energy savings
program that will save taxpayer dollars and improve the energy efficiency of county
facilities.
The Board will formally approve the program
at tonight's commissioners' meeting at the Murrysville Municipal Building, beginning at
7:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
"This program enables the county to
fund energy infrastructure improvements as part of a long-term, performance-based energy
program without any capital investment," Chairman Tom Balya said. Using the
energy-cost savings to pay for the project allows the county to improve our facilities by
leveraging existing operating budgets. These improvements will not only save taxpayers
money, they also will help conserve our natural resources."
"Retrofitting and replacing some old
and high-operating-cost equipment would have required substantial capital budget increases
over the next few years," Vice-Chairman Tom Ceraso added.
"Making the improvements through an
energy savings performance contract enables us to save the money that otherwise would be
spent on utility bills."
"The program offers a comprehensive
solution to increasing utility costs," Secretary P. Scott Conner said. "The
physical changes proposed in the program will be largely unseen by the public, but
constitute a major investment in county landmarks and facilities."
The program was developed over the past
year with NORESCO by the Board of Commissioners and Mel Wohlgemuth, Westmoreland County
Director of Maintenance. When fully implemented, the program will cover all of the county
facilities with energy and infrastructure investments. The program will utilize an energy
savings performance contract mechanism, authorized by the Pennsylvania Guaranteed Energy
Savings Act (Act 57, Title 62) to pay for the improvements without any up-front capital
investment or additional cost to taxpayers.
The first phase of the program will fund
more than $6 million of improvements. The project will be funded as part of a bond issue
later this year, which will be paid off through the utility savings. Improvements during
the first phase include energy-efficient lighting and air conditioning upgrades to
conserve electricity; new and more efficient boilers in county facilities -- such as the
courthouse, courthouse annex, county prison and Westmoreland Manor -- to conserve natural
gas; and water-conservation devices, like facet and toilet controls.
Over the next 20 years, the county expects
to realize a savings of more than $18 million through this program. Under the contract,
NORESCO guarantees the savings and is responsible for paying the difference if the
proposed savings are not fully realized. |
