Department of General Services (DGS) Director Theodore Atwood today announced that since 2006 Baltimore City has reduced overall energy use by 6.5% and is already on-target to meet and exceed the state’s Empower goals and those of the City’s Sustainability Plan. These goals call for a 15% reduction in energy use by 2015. In announcing the accomplishment, Director Atwood noted, “A part of this agency’s mission is to make Baltimore more sustainable and one of the ways we accomplish that is through energy conservation and efficiency. Because of this, we are on-target to meet and exceed the 15% energy use reduction by year 2015.” “The City will have a 20% reduction in energy use by 2015” the Director stated, which surpasses the goal.
The City has been working aggressively to reduce its use of electricity in city-owned buildings and from the base year of 2006 to now, have reduced energy use by 6.55% - which is nearly half of the required 15% reduction. The City is on course to reach a 12.9% reduction by January 2012; and by 2020, it will reduce energy consumption by over 30%.
The DGS Energy Division tracks and monitors the City’s use of utilities. This monitoring shows that the City’s use of electricity has gone down from 412 million kilowatt hours per year (kwhr/yr) in 2006 to 385 million kwhr/year now in 2010. This savings comes from energy conservation measures implemented throughout City government which include energy performance contracts and initiatives in City facilities, the use of renewable energy generated in-house at the methane gas-to-energy power plant at the DPW Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant, through cooperative utility buying through the Baltimore Regional Cooperative Purchasing Committee (BRCPC) and through use of BGE’s rebates and incentives such as the capacity reduction program.
A grant-funded project is currently under-way in 82 city buildings and libraries, which will install water conservation retrofits along with other energy efficiency improvements. Last month, the agency announced a project to begin in early November that will produce over a 20% annual reduction in energy usage in facilities and stations of the City’s Fire Department. Other upcoming energy saving projects that will help the City meet and exceed Baltimore’s Empower goals are the installation of solar panels at the Convention Center in Baltimore and new LED lights for the neighborhoods and parking garages.
Empower Maryland is a state initiative to reduce power consumption in Maryland by 15% by 2015.
To learn more about Empower Maryland or DGS energy saving initiatives, visit us on the web at Baltimorecity.gov.
Showing posts with label Baltimore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baltimore. Show all posts
Monday, November 8, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Baltimore vet cuts energy bills with solar
On a ‘green’ mission last spring, a 62 year-old retiree living on a modest income in Baltimore found himself at the Solar and Wind Expo at the Timonium Fairgrounds in Maryland.
Bennett and dozens of residents roamed the fairgrounds to learn as much as they could about installation costs and, more importantly, how much it would save them on their utility bills. The first-of-its kind event hosted scores of energy companies and the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) offering up information on incentives for renewable technologies.
There Bennett found out about the MEA residential Solar Energy Grant Program and a renewable energy federal tax credit through the Recovery Act.
Three months later—and after his reverse mortgage was approved—Bennett had 14, 175-watt solar panels installed atop his Mount Royal neighborhood home.
Solar saves green
The $2,860 solar grant from the MEA and a $1,500 federal tax credit helped Bennett pay for the installation, which took place in late July. The solar energy system cost him about $21,000 out of pocket. Already the retiree has saved almost $100 off both his August and his September electric bills.
“It was worth it,” he says. “It’s like I am doing something good for something larger than me, and I am reaping the benefits.”
The payback for his system, Bennett says, will be about 10 years. This is because he plans sell back some of the energy produced by the solar panels to the utility company via renewable energy credits, which could end up being about $1,000 in his pocket a year.
Recovering solar
Bennett is one of about 820 people or families in Maryland who have received a solar grant through the MEA’s renewable energy grant program—which includes solar, geothermal and wind— since fiscal year 2008, when its budget went from $600,000 to $2 million.
A year later, with support from the Recovery Act, that number jumped to $7 million.
“In terms of the residential side of things, it’s helped tremendously,” says Joe Cohen, a MEA clean energy research assistant who oversees the solar grant program. “We’ve gotten more applications because of the Recovery Act—and kilowatts installed.”
Residents can get up a $10,000 grant to install solar panels, but the average grant is about $4,000, Cohen says.
About $4 million of Recovery Act funds have been used so far for solar and about 3.7 MW of clean, solar energy have been placed on the grid, saving 4,440 MWh annually in the state.
“It s certainly helping the state meet it energy goals,” says Cohen, citing Maryland’s objective to have 20 percent renewable energy by 2022.
“And it’s keeping the resident solar sector healthy…We have seen quite few solar companies start up because of this program,” he adds.
Originally posted here http://www.energyempowers.gov/post/solar-energy-maryland.aspx
"Make green a reality"
visit http://www.thesolarandwindexpo.com/
A disabled veteran, Paul Bennett was there searching for alternatives to deal with his increasing energy costs. His 125 year-old historic row home with three floors and 40 windows isn’t exactly cheap to heat and cool.
“It more than doubled over the last 15 years,” he says. “I realized I needed to be as energy efficient as possible.”
Baltimore resident Paul Bennett installed 14 solar panels
such as these on his historic row home with the help of a
state solar grant and federal tax credit through the Recovery Act.
Bennett and dozens of residents roamed the fairgrounds to learn as much as they could about installation costs and, more importantly, how much it would save them on their utility bills. The first-of-its kind event hosted scores of energy companies and the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) offering up information on incentives for renewable technologies.
There Bennett found out about the MEA residential Solar Energy Grant Program and a renewable energy federal tax credit through the Recovery Act.
Three months later—and after his reverse mortgage was approved—Bennett had 14, 175-watt solar panels installed atop his Mount Royal neighborhood home.
Solar saves green
The $2,860 solar grant from the MEA and a $1,500 federal tax credit helped Bennett pay for the installation, which took place in late July. The solar energy system cost him about $21,000 out of pocket. Already the retiree has saved almost $100 off both his August and his September electric bills.
“It was worth it,” he says. “It’s like I am doing something good for something larger than me, and I am reaping the benefits.”
The payback for his system, Bennett says, will be about 10 years. This is because he plans sell back some of the energy produced by the solar panels to the utility company via renewable energy credits, which could end up being about $1,000 in his pocket a year.
Recovering solar
Bennett is one of about 820 people or families in Maryland who have received a solar grant through the MEA’s renewable energy grant program—which includes solar, geothermal and wind— since fiscal year 2008, when its budget went from $600,000 to $2 million.
A year later, with support from the Recovery Act, that number jumped to $7 million.
“In terms of the residential side of things, it’s helped tremendously,” says Joe Cohen, a MEA clean energy research assistant who oversees the solar grant program. “We’ve gotten more applications because of the Recovery Act—and kilowatts installed.”
Residents can get up a $10,000 grant to install solar panels, but the average grant is about $4,000, Cohen says.
About $4 million of Recovery Act funds have been used so far for solar and about 3.7 MW of clean, solar energy have been placed on the grid, saving 4,440 MWh annually in the state.
“It s certainly helping the state meet it energy goals,” says Cohen, citing Maryland’s objective to have 20 percent renewable energy by 2022.
“And it’s keeping the resident solar sector healthy…We have seen quite few solar companies start up because of this program,” he adds.
Originally posted here http://www.energyempowers.gov/post/solar-energy-maryland.aspx
"Make green a reality"
visit http://www.thesolarandwindexpo.com/
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)