Elaine “Missy” Wood, director of business services of the
Lake Havasu Unified District, Ed Shaeffer, Technology Coordinators, LLC, and Rick
Romain, consulting engineer of Technology Coordinators, LLC presented. Following an announcement in 2009, that
school district may lose $120 million in state aid for energy bills, Lake
Havasu Unified School District began to explore alternative energy options as a
means to avoid increasing class sizes, eliminating programs and staff.
The intent of the project was to: reduce electrical
expenditures, establish predictable electrical expenditure budgets, avoid
inhibiting potential future energy conservation measures, create an educational
opportunity for all, promote community growth, commerce and well-being and
contribute to a clean environment by using renewable energy. After initial
exploration, the district realized the dangers of so many unanswered questions,
so they worked to procure the services of a qualified renewable energy expert
that would not have any perceived or actual conflict of interest. Technical
advocacy takes time and resources, but support of this level of expertise was
important to ensure a predictable outcome.
After exploring the pros and cons of two options, the district
implemented Plan C. Plan C doubled
the dollar value of every solar kilowatt hours produced, was effective with
smaller system sizes, and was an ownership model that switched to a revenue
neutral “lease/purchase” as a long-term investment allowing the district to
realize electrical savings in the second half of the projects life-cycle. In an evaluation of the program from January
1 through June 26, 2014, it has met the revenue neutral target. Budget
projections predict that this project will exceed all expectations long term.
Kelly Alexander
Kyrene Elementary School District
No comments:
Post a Comment