Cutting energy cost is an idea that both the Washington County Board of Supervisors and the City of Greenville has discussed at May meetings.
County engineer Mark Hooker Sr. met with Entergy representatives to begin discussing options the county has to reduce energy consumption.
“Our initial conversation was to look at the lighting at convention center,” Hooker said, noting a subcontractor will be used to make energy efficient changes at the location. “They also wanted to look at some of the buildings around the courthouse.”
Hooker said some meters and the corresponding addresses were discovered to be an issue.
“The addresses do not match up with Entergy’s meters,” Hooker told Supervisors at the May 6 meeting. “Once that is straightened out, they will go into buildings and give us pricing for redoing lights.”
Hooker said Energy has a program the county qualifies for, which offers to pay a 70 to 30 split on costs to upgrade to energy efficient lights in small buildings.
After getting prices, Hooker said he will return to Supervisors with information for the board to decide how to proceed.
City council members also discussed energy saving measures at the May 7 council meeting.
Councilman Bill Boykin said he was interested in the city pursuing Entergy’s LED program.
“Right now Entergy Cooperation will pay 75 percent of cost to change out light fixtures and put LED in,” Boykin said. “You might say we don’t have the 25 percent
but the savings of LED are remarkable. Anytime you have someone willing to pay 75 percent of costs, we need to look at it and consider it.”
Councilman James Wilson shared he knows LED bulbs are more energy efficient.
“Entergy has changed out the lights on their own poles to LED because they know it is efficient,” he said.
Additional cost considerations
Mayor Eric D. Simmons said using cameras to inspect sewer lines and determine the full extend of damages and plan for complete repairs saves money in the long run because a project can be completed once and the street covering the line accessed and repaired once. Without knowing the full extend of needed repairs, projections for projects do not include total specifications or costs or despite repairs being made, further repairs are needed before being anticipated.
“Ultimately, what we are trying to do is save taxpayer money and put the money where it is needed,” Simmons said.
Boykin suggested reviewing items for purchases for gas and cylinders, especially rental related costs.
“I think it would behoove us to look at what cylinders we own and get out of the rental business,” Boykin said. “Over the course
of a year, we spend a lot of money on rental.”
He also suggested switching to tankless hot water heaters at fire stations. Because of the carcinogens and hazards that responders with the Greenville Fire department come into contact with, showers are frequently taken as a health precaution.
Boykin suggest gas cost to heat hot water tanks could be reduced by using tankless heaters.
Chief Ruben Brown agreed the change would lower the use of natural gas, but the expense to replace the tanks at eight fire stations is not currently in the budget.
Entergy’s Program
A Mississippi state agency saves energy and cut costs with lighting upgrades in 2013.
The Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), located in downtown Jackson, oversees state employee payroll and insurance, vendor payments, and construction and maintenance of state buildings in the capitol complex. DFA’s 18 offices and more than 400 employees are headquartered in the 15-story Woolfolk building, which features approximately 500,000 square feet of office space, a central mechanical plant and a 500-car garage. The building was constructed in 1949 and underwent a large-scale, two-year renovation in 2000.
In 2013, DFA’s Office of Capitol Facilities created an energy team to bring comprehensive energy management and usage reduction to the state’s 20 government buildings in Jackson. The team included DFA employees plus an energy consulting firm with specific in-depth expertise..
• The Opportunity
The energy team learned about cash incentives available for lighting upgrades through Entergy Mississippi’s Entergy Solutions for Business. The incentives prompted the team to launch a lighting upgrade project in 2016.
The lighting project was planned for the 13th and 14th floors, which had similar physical layouts that included employee perimeter offices and cubicle areas, conference rooms, workshop rooms, galleys and restrooms. Before the upgrades began, the team had an electrical engineer install submetering on the lighting circuits to monitor, analyze and compare energy savings across the two floors.
• The Project
Lighting upgrades included retrofitting or completely replacing more than 430 fluorescent fixtures. Most fixtures were T8 fluorescents, 4 feet by 3 feet, with three or four lamps. Single-lamp strips in restrooms, 2-by-2 fixtures with two lamps, and recessed canisters also were upgraded to LEDs.
On the 14th floor, existing fixtures remained in place, and old lamps were changed to LEDs. For lighting that had relatively new lamps, the energy team used fixture retrofit kits. On the 13th floor, upgrades included installing new LED fixtures and lamp replacements. Other improvements gave 13th-floor occupants greater control over their lighting. Thanks to occupancy sensors in offices, conference rooms and restrooms, lights now automatically come on at 50 percent when someone enters a room. Occupants can then manually increase lighting to 100 percent if they choose, and can program lighting- level preferences. Lights can be programmed to start at their previous level, allowing employees to set lighting preferences. Timers shut off all lights, except security lighting, at 7 p.m. daily. Daylight harvesting sensors and dimmers were added, further saving energy and reducing operating costs.
• The Benefits
DFA’s analysis of the lighting project showed an average of 60 percent energy savings from basic wattage reduction on the 14th floor alone. Some individual lighting products achieved 50 percent savings, while others marked 70 percent savings through retrofits. The four-lamp T8 fixtures had such an increase in lumens that the upgrades required only two lamps per fixture, accounting for significant savings. On the 13th floor, replaced fixtures produced energy savings of 50 percent, with an additional 10 percent wattage reduction coming from lighting controls.
DFA estimates they will save 66,800 kWh and about $8,000 per year in energy costs. In addition, DFA received $11,300 in incentives from Entergy Solutions for Business, which reduced the project’s overall costs.
For more information visit: entergysolutionsms.com/business, email entergybusinesssolutions@icf.com or call 844-523-9979.
