School energy conservation pays off

By Emily Richmond

Friday, Oct. 25, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.

An aggressive conservation program by the Clark County School District has yielded significant benefits -- $3 million was shaved off the annual energy bill for the past academic year.

"That's millions of dollars going to the classrooms instead of Nevada Power," said Patrick Herron, assistant superintendent of the district's facilities division. "We're thrilled about that."

With nearly 280 campuses, 27,000 employees and 254,000 students, keeping the power on district-wide is costly, averaging about $35 million a year.

The savings come as the district faces its third year of massive budget cuts, totalling nearly $90 million off an annual budget of $1.2 billion. District officials have been urging employees to scrape together savings wherever possible to prevent further cuts.

Sherry Holman, the Nevada Power executive who handles the school district's account, said this morning she was pleased to her the conservation program was paying off. Nevada Power has a representative on the district's energy committee and the company worked closely with schools to come up with ways to save, Holman said.

By cutting back on its peak-hour usage, the district is actually doing Nevada Power a service, Holman said.

"The more they save, the less power we have to go out and buy to serve the rest of our customers during those peak times," Holman said.

School staff turned off heating and air conditioning systems overnight and on weekends, and reported lights that were not turning off properly when the campus was not in use. More than half of the money saved came from conservation efforts in the summer months, district officials said.

Schools that reduced their energy bills by 10 percent or more will receive rebate checks, district officials said. But the majority of the money stays in the school's general fund.

"The schools worked hard to get these savings and they really deserve something back," Herron said. "We look at the rebate money as a reward and an incentive."

Schools that cut their energy bills by at least 10 percent over the prior year will receive rebate checks ranging from $250 to $4,000, district officials said. A total of 121 schools qualified for the rebate program.

Campuses that reduced electrical consumption by 15 percent get double the rebate, which is determined by enrollment. Larger schools are eligible for more money.

The schools may use the money on anything that "directly impacts student achievement."

"It's an exciting program," said Dale Scott, energy manager for the district. "Not only does the program save taxpayers millions of dollars, the kids benefit form the energy savings as well."

This was the second year of the district's campaign to cut energy costs. The biggest push came during this past summer, when district officials ordered nine-month schools to close by 1 p.m.and shut down entirely for the month of July. Cafeteria supplies were also consolidated so that unused refrigerators and freezers could be shut off.

Indian Springs Elementary School topped the district's list of conserving campuses, cutting its electric bill by just under 35 percent during the 2002-03 academic year.

Dottie Frank, an assistant to the principal, said Thursday the savings were due in part to the summer-long shutdown of the elementary school building. The school's summer secretary moved to the high school campus for the months of June and August, and took July off, Frank said. The elementary school's summer classes were also moved to the high school, Frank said.

"We all did our parts," Frank said.

The district has passed new regulations aimed at cutting energy costs. School vending machines, which cost the district an estimated $1.4 million a year to keep running, now must have display lights disconnected. Many schools have already switched to motion detectors and timers that automatically shut down the machines overnight or during vacation periods.

"We're definitely getting better at this," Herron said. "Each year we learn a lot, and we're able to improve our savings the next time around."