3p Contributor: Justin Sternberg
Recent Articles
Alaska’s Lighting Revolution: Sustainability Is More Than Kilowatt Hours
In June of 2007, the former Mayor of Anchorage and newly elected US Senator from Alaska, (D) Mark Begich, created a position in the municipality to examine the potential cost savings unrealized within Anchorage’s outdoor lighting systems. Over the next two years, the city assembly approved the mayor’s request to purchase 4,300 LED light fixtures, the largest municipal purchase in the United States to date, as the first of three phases in retrofitting the city’s entire municipal lighting portfolio.
The project revealed a 7 year payback period which included a 4% interest rate, to offset cost of capital. The mayor and the Anchorage Assembly agreed that a reasonable payback period on a project that reduced long term operational cost was a wise of use of tax dollars and the fixture purchase was approved in August of 2008. In implementing the first large-scale municipal LED retrofit in the United States, the City of Anchorage has emerged as a leader of large-scale LED retrofitting.
Between 61 and 68 million roadway lamps turn on each night, with utilities, municipalities, and state governments consuming 1% of the country’s electricity to light roadways. Roadway lighting consumes 1.3% of all end-use electricity in the EU25 1, or 35 TWh per year, 1% of all end-use electricity in the USA 2, 10% to 38% of a municipal government’s electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions 3.
San Francisco Provides Comprehensive Incentives In Push For Solar Power
In July, San Francisco launched GoSolarSF a 10-year solar rebate program designed to accelerate the build out of the city’s clean energy infrastructure. On September 30th, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that applications for new solar installations have quadrupled since then, putting the city on track to double its installed capacity by next year. Under the program, city residents will receive rebates between $3,000-$6,000 off the cost of a solar system, while businesses are eligible for up to $10,000 in savings.
San Francisco has identified 1600 business as likely candidates for solar installations. Combined, the target businesses use a total of 170 MW of power. The city’s current solar installation capacity is 5 MW – a ¬Ω percent of the city’s 1 GW of total annual consumption. With help from a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, San Francisco will begin offering these businesses free energy efficiency and solar audits. The energy efficiency audits will be conducted first and are designed to drive down the businesses’ consumption of energy, thereby enabling smaller and less costly solar systems to cover their remaining energy needs.
San Francisco Moves Ahead With Electric Vehicle Initiative
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is on a roll with initiatives aimed at placing the city at the forefront of urban sustainability. At a press conference on Tuesday, September 30, the mayor discussed his commitment to “actionable implementation,” something he said was currently lacking at the state and federal levels. Under his leadership, Newsom believes San Francisco is well positioned to demonstrate the economic benefits of an integrated clean energy economy.
One project spearheaded by the mayor is San Francisco’s electric vehicle (EV) policy, which includes cities across the greater Bay Area. SF recently closed its request for information (RFI) and is reviewing 19 responses ranging from electric motorcycles to solicited input from Better Place, the Palo Alto firm working with Israel and Denmark to implement a statewide EV infrastructure. In conjunction with technology options, the city is addressing adoption incentives and infrastructure requirements. One example currently under consideration is complimentary charging stations located throughout the city that supply clean power from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, courtesy the San Francisco Public Utility Commission.
Recent Comments