Is An Energy Service Company In your Future?

In a recent post I mentioned Energy Service Companies (ESCos) – the use of which is one option that cities like Carbondale can employ to reduce city-wide energy expenses.

What is an ESCo? An ESCo is a “business that develops, installs, and finances projects designed to improve the energy efficiency and maintenance costs for facilities over a seven to 10 year time period. ESCOs generally act as project developers for a wide range of tasks and assume the technical and performance risk associated with the project. Typically, they offer the following services:

• develop, design, and finance energy efficiency projects;
• install and maintain the energy efficient equipment involved;
• measure, monitor, and verify the project's energy savings; and
• assume the risk that the project will save the amount of energy guaranteed.

These services are bundled into the project's cost and are repaid through the dollar savings generated.” {read more}

The great advantage of using ESCos is the avoidance of risk by the customer. It is up to the vendor to properly manage their technology decisions. If they fail to save energy/money, they make no profit. This is “performance-based contracting.”

ESCos tend to specialize in particular areas of expertise in either the demand or the supply side of the energy saving equation.

A company doesn’t have to be a large ESCo or be a member of the National Association of Energy Service Companies to make a difference for a community. There are hundreds of smaller businesses with technology innovations that can help communities build there way to energy self-reliance and sustainability. They have expertise in energy conservation, wind, solar, and other cost-effective renewable energy solutions.

Demand-side solutions from any number of sources do work. In this report, “Power To Save – An Alternative Path to Meet Electric Needs in Texas, their study found that:

“a comprehensive effort to promote efficiency and other cost-saving demand reduction measures can meet Texas’ electricity needs more reliably, at a lower cost and at a tremendous net economic benefit compared to building a new fleet of expensive and heavily polluting power plants. Over the next 15 years, boosting markets for more efficient products, lighting, cooling, heating and industrial processes can eliminate over 80% of forecast growth in electricity demand, while lowering consumer’s energy bills. With additional measures to further reduce electricity demand and enhance reliability, Texas can completely eliminate its “load growth,” resulting in a gradual decline in total electricity demand to more than 9% below current levels by 2021.”

Our local politicians don’t seem to be considering ESCos or conservation and renewables as part of their response to the disastrous Ameren rate increase. I wonder why that is. If anyone knows about a local politician decisively working on alternative solutions, please let me know.