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Welcome to the newsletter of the Energy
Services Coalition (ESC). We launched
this to communicate exciting news on the
many ESC activities now happening around
the nation. |
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Now is the Time to
Join ESC! |
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 July
is the beginning of ESC's annual
membership period, so it's a perfect
time to get involved in this exciting
and growing organization. Whether you
view it as a benefit to your business or
a path to environmental sustainability,
we welcome you! ESC's focus - to
increase energy efficiency through
performance contracting - results in
real projects that make a real
contribution to our nation's future.
You can play an active role in the ESC
and make a big difference, participating
in state chapters, spreading the word
about energy performance contracting by
sharing ESC informational resources,
helping out with workshops and events,
sharing your strategies to advance
performance contracting or
participating in other
industry-advancing activities. Tony
Philips, an ESCO Account Executive,
experienced first-hand how ESC's
public-private partnership approach made
a difference in Mississippi. Phillips
values his membership and said: "I've
found many advantages being an ESC
member involved with the
Mississippi ESC Chapter. It gives
me an opportunity to network with others
in the industry, build valuable
relationships, stay on top of key issues
facing our industry, participate in
informative educational sessions and to
be able to build instant credibility
with my customers as a Mississippi ESC
member."
Annual dues are only $240 for business
employees and $120 for government and
non-profit organization employees. ESC
is a membership of individuals, not a
company-based membership organization.
Your dues support both the national
organization and the state chapter(s) of
your choice. You can contribute
additional dues to participate in more
than one chapter.
Join now! |
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State Showcase -
Colorado |
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Colorado's state energy office initiated
an energy performance contracting
program in 1988 that evolved into what
is now a major part of Governor Ritter's
New Energy Economy. Managed by the
Colorado Governor's Energy Office (GEO),
the
Commercial and Public Buildings Program
on Performance Contracting has
demonstrated the effectiveness of most
of ESC's recommended
Best Practices, from strong
legislative and gubernatorial support,
to pre-qualified Energy Service
Companies (ESCOs) with pre-approved
contracts, to a successful
public-private partnership with its ESC
state chapter. Energy performance
contracting has become recognized in
Colorado as the best way to fund
energy-saving improvements in buildings,
modernize facilities, reduce the use of
energy resources, and reduce the demand
on the state's budget to operate public
facilities.
The program has provided technical
assistance to projects totaling well
over $200 million in capital investment
supported by over $20 million in annual
savings, creating over 2,000 annual jobs
with the environmental benefit
comparable to removing 60,000 cars from
the road. Joel Asrael, GEO's
Commercial Buildings Program Manager,
said: "We have 144 projects in the
program now, in stages from ESCO
selection through monitoring and
verification, and 13 ESCOs are
pre-qualified to provide services.
We're proud of the program's success as
it puts us on the path to reach the
state's goal to cut energy use by 20% by
2020 and to 'lead by example' through
our Greening Government program."
Colorado's energy office was a key
player in founding the national Energy
Services Coalition and its program
managers have been involved with the
National ESC from its conception to the
present day. Joel Asrael was just
invited to join
ESC's Board this month to replace
his predecessor Jeff Lyng. Colorado
pioneered the chapter approach for the
ESC and the
Colorado ESC Chapter has thrived
since 2001.
 Joel
Asrael, Commercial & Public Buildings
Program Manager (second from right),
shares Colorado successes with other
state and ESC representatives.
Quarterly meetings are lively with well
over 25 participants each time,
bolstered by very strong GEO leadership
and support. The chapter and GEO hosted
160 decision-makers at a full-day
workshop last year -
Greening Facilities in the New Energy
Economy. The chapter just
saw a major initiative become a
reality. Successfully partnering with
Xcel Energy, the largest utility company
in the state, the chapter worked with
Xcel, at Xcel's invitation, to design a
customized utility incentive program
that complements the performance
contracting approach. Xcel just
released its
standard offer. |
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What's New in
Performance Contracting?
Wastewater's
Waste Turns into Electricity Generation,
Process Heat and Jobs |
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 A
performance contract converted
environmentally damaging waste into a
high-value environmentally-friendly
commodity for the City of Baltimore's
Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The plant was already using anaerobic
digesters to process the waste, and
capturing residual methane gas to heat
the digesters, but not all gas could be
utilized. Instead of flaring the
remaining methane gas into the
atmosphere, a new combined heat and
power plant fires the gas to spin
electricity-producing generators,
provides co-generated steam to offset
heating requirements for processing
sludge, and cleans any remaining gas to
fuel boilers that heat facilities. To
optimize the entire wastewater treatment
plant's efficiency, the ESCO replaced
outdated boilers and chillers with new
ones equipped to run on methane gas,
installed efficient lighting equipment
and replaced all non-efficient
electrical motors over 25 horsepower.
Utility and operational savings from
this comprehensive project will pay for
the entire $14 million project within 8
to 15 years (8 years if future
electricity costs inflate as
expected). Plant Manager Nick Frankos
said, "the timing was right because
rising energy costs made it economically
viable."
The digester gas cogeneration plant just
came on-line in November and will
generate 2.4 megawatts of electricity
with available methane supply, providing
20% of the plant's electricity needs and
eliminating 12.9 million pounds of
carbon emissions annually. The benefits
don't stop there. The cogeneration
system can expand as city facilities
expand and it provides a future hedge
against rising gas and electricity
prices.  The
performance contracting project
benefits the city's bottom-line as well
as the community's, creating many jobs
for local contractors. Frankos added:
"Overall it's a good project. It was
seamless to us as the ESCO did all the
work from design to installation and
will handle maintenance to ensure its
continuing operation. And, it didn't
cost us anything from our capital
budget." |
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State Chapters in
Action |
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 Chapters
are as diverse as the states themselves,
but several common activities emerge.
The chapter provides a forum for both
public and private parties to join
forces on activities to increase energy
efficiency through performance
contracting. Education usually tops the
list as the most effective way to
increase performance contracting
activity, hosting workshops for facility
owners or involving decision-makers in
interactive chapter meetings or both.
Breaking down barriers to government
processes is another priority for most
chapters and is often the impetus for
creating a chapter. With state
leadership, this can involve refining
and streamlining procurement and
contracting processes, updating
legislation, and clarifying the
authority for agencies to enter into
performance contracts, making a big
difference in establishing performance
contracting as an approved and
encouraged method for governments to
implement.
A sampling of what's happening around
the country: The
Tennessee ESC Chapter, with the
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is
holding a
Tennessee Green Building Summit
in September where all are invited
to join with community leaders to
explore best practices related to
funding and doing green projects. The
Kentucky ESC Chapter has new life
with enthusiastic involvement of the
Finance Administration Cabinet to break
down barriers to performance contracting
in state government and make it an
approved method of choice. The
Georgia ESC Chapter is advising on
ways to overcome very restrictive
legislation and looks forward to
breaking through financing barriers in
the next legislative cycle. The
South Carolina ESC Chapter is
working with the state's Energy
Coordinators group to plan a workshop.
 As
mentioned above, ESC's oldest chapter -
Colorado ESC Chapter - demonstrated
the strength in a public private
partnership, effectively partnering with
the local utility to influence its
approach to incentivizing performance
contracting programs. The
Alabama ESC Chapter is planning for
its
4th Annual Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy Conference
in October. This is just a
sampling of what the ESC state chapter
approach can accomplish - stay tuned for
future success stories. |
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ESC Hot News |
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Two states issue solicitations for
performance contracting services
RFQ for Energy Performance Contractors
for State of Montana
Submittals are due to DEQ August 14,
2009
RFP for Energy Performance Contracting
Services for State of Utah
Submittals are due August 4, 2009
Events
Tennessee Green Building Summit: Funding
and Doing GreenSeptember 22, 2009 -
Marriott Airport Hotel, Nashville, TN
Alabama 4th Annual Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy ConferenceOctober
22, 2009, 8:30 - 2:30, Marriott Legends,
Prattville AL
Green Performance Contracting - An ESC
Webinar
September 4, 2009; 1:00 - 2:00 ET
Presented by: Robert N. Van Der Like,
CSDP, CEM, LEED® AP
If you missed the last webinar on
financing options, catch it at your
leisure: Biggest
Bang for the Buck - Leveraging Funds.
New on the ESC website
For Local Governments:
Strategies, rationale,
and implementation examples for local
governments to use performance
contracting
ESC Board Welcomes New Board Member
Joel Asrael, Commercial and Public
Buildings Program Manager, Colorado
Governor's Energy Office, is ESC's
newest board member. See the feature
article above about Joel's work in
Colorado. |
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I hope you enjoyed this issue of the ESC
Newsletter. I invite you to join the
ESC organization and get involved.
There has never been a better time to
add your support to the growth of the
energy savings performance contracting
industry.
Sincerely,
Ray Hinson,
President of the ESC Board of Directors
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About the ESC |
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The Energy Services Coalition (ESC) is a national
nonprofit organization composed of a
network of experts from a wide range of
organizations working together at the
state and local level to increase energy
efficiency through energy performance
contracting.
Energy performance contracting enables
building owners to use future energy
savings to pay for up-front costs of
energy-saving projects, eliminating the
need to dip into capital budgets.
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ESC Working for YOU |
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State Energy Offices and similar
organizations:
ESC's website offers a growing variety
of tools and resources to aid you in
accelerating performance contracting in
your state. ESC's State Technical
Support Liaisons can work one-on-one
with you to develop a performance
contracting program. Networking
opportunities put you in touch with your
peers in other states.
ESCOs:
Work in partnership with public-sector
representatives in states where you do
business. And, work in partnership with
your peers and others to break down
local barriers to performance
contracting and increase awareness
through effective educational
workshops.
Vendors, Engineers, Contractors &
Performance Contracting Specialists:
Grow your business by accelerating the
use of energy performance contracting.
Building Owners & Facility Managers:
Get unbiased information and how-to
steps to get started and follow-through
with a successful energy performance
contracting project.
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ESC Activities |
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WEBINARS
ESC is presenting webinars quarterly on
timely topics. Additional webinars are
planned to address ongoing member
interests. All will be available for
viewing at any time in ESC's growing
online webinar library.
NEWSLETTERS
Newsletters are distributed every
several months.
Sign-up for the newsletter and
contact us to
contribute ideas for our "What's New
in Performance Contracting" feature.
CHAPTER ACTIVITIES
Chapters have a variety of activities.
Check the chapter websites or
contact chapter leaders to get
involved. |
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Recognition of Support |
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Market Transformation tools to
accelerate energy performance
contracting are made available through
support of the U.S. Department of Energy
-Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy.
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