Title
ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACT - INVESTMENT GRADE AUDIT
COUNCIL INITIATIVE ADDRESSED:
Continue effective financial management
CITY ATTORNEY REVIEW: NA
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
The Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) program was developed by the state legislature to provide a means of installing energy conservation measures in publicly-owned facilities without additional capital outlay. The facility or equipment upgrades, whether replacements or new projects, would pay for themselves by guaranteed energy savings over an agreed upon time frame.
The program is administered and managed by the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES), formerly known as the Department of General Administration (GA). On January 14, 2010, the city council approved an interagency agreement with DES, to pursue an energy savings performance contract for Longview. After selecting Ameresco Quantum, Inc. from the DES’ pre-approved roster of Energy Services Companies (ESCO), City staff, DES, and Ameresco conducted site visits of city facilities, and Ameresco conducted a preliminary audit to develop a list of upgrades that might qualify for an ESPC.
Based on the preliminary audit, Ameresco identified a number of upgrades likely to meet the City’s cost effectiveness criteria for continuing the ESPC process, and on December 12, 2012, the city council authorized Ameresco to conduct an Investment Grade Audit (IGA) necessary to develop an ESPC. The IGA has been completed and a variety of upgrades have been identified as being cost effective.
The next step is to choose which upgrades, if any, the city council wants to include in an ESPC project. If the Council chooses to proceed with an ESPC, a final proposal will be developed for Council authorization. After construction, and under the oversight of the DES, Ameresco will measure energy consumption to verify the guaranteed energy savings goals have been met.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY:
The city council previously established ESPC cost effectiveness criteria of a 7-year simple pay back and a 10-year project loan. Using only upgrades that meet those criteria, Ameresco has identified a project package estimated to have a simple pay back of 4.98 years. The Project cost is estimated to be $2,024,041, with a first-year energy savings of $254,445.
However, staff recommends revising the project criteria to include two important facility upgrades that did not meet the original cost effectiveness criteria. Due to their age, future maintenance risks, occupant comfort, and improved effectiveness of the HVAC controls upgrades, staff recommends including replacement of the City Hall air conditioning chiller and all windows at City Hall. This additional work can be accomplished utilizing energy savings by extending the loan period to 15 years.
If the city council chooses not to authorize an energy savings performance contract, the City must pay Ameresco $50,000 for the cost of the investment grade audit, and $21,700 to DES as a termination payment.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Discussion and direction to staff.