Ephrata tries to improve, save on energy efficiency

EPHRATA - Ephrata is seeking ways to save energy to spend less from its current expense fund.

The city recently hired McKinstry, an energy consulting firm, to make suggestions on how the city could improve the energy efficiency of its buildings. The company was the only one to respond to the city's request for qualifications.

"As we look past the current street project we're going to need some funding for everything else that needs to get done," City Administrator Wes Crago said. "We'd like to try to get involved and try to get as many grants as possible."

Jayson Schmidt, a sales engineer with McKinstry, explained in a presentation prior to the selection the company looks at energy and water efficiency along with examining the cost of wastewater.

The company examined utility bills for Ephrata facilities during the past three years, he said. The city spends about $63,000 a year in utilities.

"Of the buildings that are consuming more than they should, the city hall, the city shop and we were also looking at wastewater treatment, if you were to bring all those down to the benchmark level that's a reduction of about 21 percent or $13,000."

The company is expected to provide some preliminary analysis for different ways the city could save money operating the buildings, according to Schmidt.

"(We will) walk the facilities to determine why there is excess energy usage in certain buildings and where are some needs for buildings that might not be operating as poorly on an energy basis but more on an operational base," he said.

After the analysis, company representatives will return to the city to design a project, which would become a detailed analysis of energy efficiency improvements. The analysis, called an investment-grade audit, allows city officials to apply for grants, Schmidt said.

"All the way up until that investment-grade audit, which is the first tall bar, the only commitment we would be asking for is a selection from the council," he said. "You're not committing to a project. You're not committing to a grant. You're simply saying OK, we want to go through the (laws) and have a performance contractor on board, so we're prepared for this grant or possibly future grants."

Schmidt pointed out Grant County PUD offers a utility rebate program which give 20 cents per kilowatt hour of energy saved as a utility rebate. Schmidt estimated the company could save the city about 440,000 kilowatt hours.

"You could potentially get $88,000 in utility rebates," he said.

Another possibility Schmidt suggested was a state Department of Commerce grant aimed at creating construction jobs through improving energy efficiency.

"One other thing I like to point out is utility rates fluctuate throughout the entire state. This is a competitive grant. Individuals would say, 'Hey, we're getting the cheapest power, how are we supposed to compete against someone that's paying more?' Well they leveled their rates on the grants, so they're actually using a rate of 7.6 cents per kilowatt hour on the grant."

City Administrator Wes Crago said the company has been successful in projects for some of the larger counties and cities.

"They saved Wenatchee I think, $4,000 a year on their city hall alone," he said.