Governments Eye Energy Savings

By Christopher Anderson

San Antonio Express-News

04/01/2003 12:00 AM

After studying antiquated air-conditioning units and an ancient boiler at Freeman Coliseum, Leo Rachal calculates that replacing them probably won't save the county enough money on its electric bill to justify the cost.

"It's just that the energy savings would not be as great as they would be for systems that operate, let's say, 40 hours or 50 hours per week, year-round," says Rachal, vice president of Texas Energy Engineering Services Inc., noting Freeman gets little use these days.

Rachal, who is conducting energy audits at both Freeman and University Hospital, wonders if more efficient lighting would help.

"Let's go back in and see if we can count some lights," he says.

Energy audits are expected in government buildings all over Texas. State legislation calls for all government entities in the most populous counties, excluding school districts, to reduce energy use by 25 percent before 2007.

"I never think they're doing enough," said Linda Stone, executive director of the Metropolitan Energy Partnership, a group created last year to help area governments comply with the new energy rules.

Stone said government officials are not taking advantage of low-interest state loans to replace and upgrade equipment — a process that more than pays for itself through reduced energy costs.

Stone said she is certain that Senate Bill 5, passed two years ago by the Texas Legislature, will push area governments to scale back their energy consumption.

"I think they finally have come to the point where they understand what they need to do, and they're starting to take steps," she said. "It just makes so much sense."

While replacing existing equipment with more energy-efficient technology will have a price, it would result in annual energy savings of $3.4 million if Bexar County, the city of San Antonio and the University Health System can make the required reductions.

Renee Green, Bexar County's director of environmental services, said that complying with the state law is essentially voluntary, because governments thatfail to reduce their energy use by the required amount have to provide only a written explanation.

Still, Green said she expects that the law to spur the county to install more energy efficient heating and air-condition systems and lighting in many of its buildings.

"That's typically low-hanging fruit," she said, adding that the county could even exceed state requirements. "We don't need to stop at 25 percent," she said. "If something pays for itself, we'll continue to look at that."

Dave Newman, the city's environmental services manager, said the city likely will make similar improvements.

"We're not necessarily talking about lowering the thermostats or raising the thermostats at different seasons — that would create uncomfortable working conditions," Newman said. "We're talking about making these mechanical systems run better and more efficient."

Dan Titerle, who oversees energy management for the San Antonio Water System, acknowledged that Senate Bill 5 has prompted the utility to take a hard look at where, when and how much electricity it needs.

"Energy for the longest time has never been considered much of an issue," Titerle said. "It was just kind of a pass-through cost. We spent a lot of time scratching our head to try to figure out what we had."

Titerle said SAWS wants to use natural gas that currently is burned off at its Dos Rios Water Recycling Center to generate up to two megawatts of electricity at the site. That is equivalent to the annual amount of electricity used by 600 households in San Antonio.