Friday, November 24, 2006

Allen ISD to focus on energy conservation

District hopes to SCORE lower energy bills

By Pegasus News wire

Allen ISD will be participating in SCORE, a program that aims to conserve energy and provide additional resources for school districts. The Texas Schools Conserving Resources program is a pilot program, sponsored by TXU Electric Delivery, for select school districts to help improve energy efficiency and reduce schools’ energy operating costs.

“We feel this is an important opportunity to help our district control operating costs,” said Steve Hanner, Allen ISD Maintenance Supervisor. “The money we save can be reinvested directly into the classroom. By conserving energy, we are setting a good example for students and teachers who are encouraged to conserve energy as well.”

As part of the SCORE program, Allen ISD identified the least energy-efficient facilities and developed an energy master plan ensuring the best approach toward reducing the district’s energy bills.

“Our first focus,” said Hanner, “will be lighting at Reed and Boyd Elementary, Ford Middle School and Lowery Freshman Center. “We are going to replace magnetic ballast light fixtures with more efficient electronic light equipment.”

Overall, participation in the SCORE program should result in over $10,000 in energy savings from more efficient lighting.

Other benefits of the SCORE program are a “benchmarking” tool that will compare energy usage with other districts and an incentive program funded by TXU Electric Delivery that will help with the capitol cost involved with needed energy retrofits.

SCORE also provides assistance with designing energy program maintenance and operation guidelines as well as financial decision making criteria for energy efficiency improvements.

Conservation assistance programs have been mainly for districts without energy plans, however Hanners is optimistic that SCORE can help fine tune the program currently in place.

Mesquite, Mansfield, Tyler, Kaufman and Copperas Cove school districts participated in the SCORE program last year, the first year of the program. This year's participants include school districts from Plano, Waxahachie, Grand Prairie, Midland, Crowley, Belton and Ector County.

TXU Electric Delivery will provide incentive checks to the school districts based on their documented energy savings. The district is awarded an incentive check when projects are finished and the new equipment is inspected.

TXU Electric Delivery, the regulated transmission and distribution subsidiary of TXU Corp., delivers power to approximately three million homes and businesses in Texas through more than 114,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines.

The SCORE program is being implemented by CLEAResult Consulting, Inc.

Source: Allen ISD

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