Local governments have the extraordinary task of constantly looking for ways to reduce overhead costs without negatively impacting the services they provide to their community. Constituents generally want to see their local leaders demonstrate value with their money. They also don’t usually like to see tax increases, so it’s essential that local governments maximize tax dollars for improvements that are important to their community.
To maximize taxpayer dollars, addressing overhead expenses like energy and maintenance costs is particularly important as many local government facilities across the U.S. are aging and energy costs are skyrocketing. Aging energy assets and infrastructure carry the high price tag of inefficient energy consumption, resulting in energy waste and a high carbon footprint. Consequently, many local governments know that they need to upgrade and modernize infrastructure to reduce energy costs, increase efficiencies, minimize waste, and reduce carbon emissions.
The main questions for many local governments, then, isn’t whether or not they should upgrade infrastructure, but what exactly do they need to do? What measures do they need to take? Where should they even start? And how do they overcome capital constraints?
These questions are becoming more top of mind as all areas of local government – cities, counties, parishes, special districts, towns, villages, water plants, and wastewater plants – look to address the efficiency and sustainability of assets across their infrastructure and pursue operational excellence. With energy-intensive assets draining critical financial resources, deferred maintenance backlogs growing, and constituents wanting to see their tax dollars at work to improve their community, local governments have a tall order to fill to satisfy their stakeholders.
There are a variety of facility improvement measures (FIMs) that local governments can implement to reach their energy and infrastructure goals. These upgrades allow local governments to get the most from their energy and drive the most value from their infrastructure, extending far beyond simply saving on energy costs. They work together to address energy conservation, energy generation, energy monetization, and energy resilience while ensuring the safety and comfort of the community.
To dramatically boost energy efficiency across their facilities, local governments must think more broadly about how they use and source energy and how to maximize their infrastructure. Low-hanging fruit like LED lighting upgrades and ensuring rooms are not heated or cooled while unoccupied are undoubtedly necessary, but energy conservation is just the first step toward achieving energy and carbon reduction targets.
FIMs focusing on energy conservation set the stage for more robust energy solutions like on-site renewable energy generation, energy storage, and resilience from grid outages – enabling local governments to fully maximize their energy and their infrastructure and accelerate their energy reduction and net zero targets.
A variety of FIMs enable local governments to upgrade outdated energy assets and implement cutting-edge integrated energy solutions – to simultaneously deliver financial and decarbonization results while improving and enhancing their community.
Upgrading energy-inefficient lighting to LED is a great place to start with energy infrastructure upgrades. LED lighting uses about 50% less electricity than traditional options, delivering cost savings, especially when paired with lighting controls for effective and efficient management of lighting across multiple facilities. With an expected lifespan of 30,000 to 50,000 hours, LED lighting also requires less frequent maintenance, reducing maintenance costs. Multiple studies have shown that optimized LED lighting dramatically improves occupant performance in visual and cognitive tasks, reduces fatigue, increases activity, improves reaction times, and boosts morale. Applications aren’t constrained to interior lighting – local governments can also upgrade exterior lighting, like parking lot lights and pathway lights, to improve light quality and increase safety.
Optimizing the performance and efficiency of HVAC systems dramatically reduces energy consumption, energy costs, and maintenance expenses while providing measurable improvements in comfort, morale, and productivity. As Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, where the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than outside, the comfort and safety of indoor environments are more important than ever. In addition to using less energy than predecessor technology, modern HVAC systems create an optimal living, learning, and working environment by ensuring proper ventilation and indoor air quality.
Conserving our natural resources should be part of any local government’s energy and infrastructure strategy and can simultaneously deliver operational cost savings. By installing water-efficient fixtures and equipment, local governments can lower water and sewer costs across their facilities and infrastructure. In addition, reducing the amount of energy used in the pumping of water lowers carbon emissions, further boosting environmental credentials. Addressing water efficiency is especially critical for water and wastewater plants, as water is directly tied to revenue. The EPA reports that, on average, 14% of treated water is lost to leaks in the distribution system – and some water systems say loss rates exceed 60%. Lost water means lost revenue for water utilities – and wasted energy consumption and costs for the treatment of lost gallons.
It’s essential to consider the building envelope when investing in energy efficiency technology like new lighting, HVAC, etc. Making retrofits to the existing building envelope minimizes heat transfer between interior and exterior spaces to ensure that rooms stay cool when air-conditioned and warm when heated.
By implementing a building automation system, local governments can automate the tasks required to efficiently and cost-effectively operate HVAC, lighting, security, and other systems through a single, intelligent system. Building automation systems provide convenient access to information on equipment performance and utility metering, combining predictive technologies with customized facility preferences to proactively manage building infrastructure operations. The system can monitor equipment in real-time to detect inefficiencies before they become problems – reducing maintenance costs and equipment breakdowns.
Installing solar PV panels enables local governments to unlock value from their rooftops, parking lots, and grounds, transforming these assets into sources of on-site renewable energy generation. Installing solar reduces grid energy consumption, lowers energy costs, and demonstrates a commitment to the environment. Local governments can store excess energy in batteries to reduce demand charges during peak price times. They can also participate in net metering, which enables them to send excess energy back to the grid and receive payment from the utility in the form of bill credits applied to their monthly utility bill, reducing future energy costs and operating expenses.
Local governments provide many critical community services, and during a power outage, the community relies on them to keep the lights on and emergency services operational. The traditional approach to backup power by using generators is not a long-term, sustainable, or environmentally-friendly solution. Nor does it align to net zero targets. A microgrid, however, secures energy resilience and safeguards critical facilities from potential risks while enabling local governments to remain aligned with their sustainability and financial goals. A microgrid solution composed of a solar PV system, battery storage, and a backup generator generates and stores renewable energy supply on-site, reduces energy and demand costs, and lowers carbon emissions.
As demonstrated above, many options are available for making energy infrastructure upgrades. There are also just as many pathways for implementation. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the number of opportunities. It’s also easy to be overwhelmed by budget constraints. However, there are a few things to consider.
Many local governments assume that they need to tackle projects one at a time due to budget constraints. This method is not the most efficient way to implement energy efficiency upgrades, and various financing mechanisms are available to enable local governments to implement multi-measure energy solutions without upfront capital. Instead of phasing projects over a few decades, local governments can immediately tackle their energy costs and carbon emissions to achieve their net zero and energy goals sooner.
To maximize energy infrastructure, it’s important to understand the scope of upgrades available and how the components interact with each other to deliver energy cost savings and reduce carbon emissions. The order of implementation matters to maximizing energy infrastructure. For instance, installing a solar PV system without first addressing energy conservation measures like lighting and HVAC upgrades will not yield the most cost-effective solar PV system. The system would be over-sized for the energy needs. In addition, under various financing mechanisms, energy savings from energy conservation and efficiency measures may even pay for renewable technologies like solar PV.
Every community is unique, so you need a partner who can offer technologies and services that fit your challenges. While they may have the same goal of modernizing infrastructure to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, every local government’s implementation path looks different. Working with the right partner is essential to implementing successful infrastructure upgrades while remaining aligned to your strategic and financial goals.
As an integrator of sustainable energy solutions, Centrica Business Solutions works with all areas of local government – cities, counties, parishes, special districts, towns, villages, water plants, and wastewater plants – to remove complexity. We deliver a full range of bundled, end-to-end energy solutions and services – and deploy them in the right order for maximum impact.
We provide a comprehensive approach to energy management, offering expertise, technologies, financing, and full lifecycle support.
Benefits to you:
Centrica Business Solutions can weave together a strategy from our broad portfolio to help you address the efficiency and sustainability of assets across your energy infrastructure as you pursue operational excellence. Our solutions can help you to reduce complexity when you’re adopting a blend of technologies. And we help you optimize your energy and infrastructure to deliver value in the short and long term.
