Meridian Township Saves Money
Friday, October 08, 2010
Here's a good example of starting with the basics. Charter Township of Meridian, Michigan (population approx 40,000) starting using Planet Footprint's Energy and Environmental Scorekeeping Service in early 2010 to track energy, fleet and water usage, costs and greenhouse gas emissions of all Township operations. The Township saved over $9,000 in the first three months of the service, almost all of which will continue as annual savings.
"In our first training session Chris [Planet Footprint's Service Manager for Meridian] helped our Facilities
and Finance staff to find several thousand dollars in annual savings from sales tax rebates and identification of energy accounts that the Township shouldn’t be paying.", said LeRoy Harvey, the Township's Recycling Coordinator.
"We're now using Planet Footprint data and reports to track the success – reduced energy consumption, costs and greenhouse gas emissions - of building retrofits from our ARRA Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG). We will also use the unique profiling tools to recognize our achievements and increase energy efficiency awareness amongst our staff and community.", said LeRoy.
"Having the data collection professionally managed lets my colleagues and I spend time acting on the information and improving our financial and environmental performance, rather than getting bogged down in data management.", LeRoy commented. The Township has over 100 electric, natural gas, propane and water invoices per month. and some complicated billing arrangements for street lighting and fleet fuel. Planet Footprint collects the data monthly and Township employees don't do any data entry. Meridian's Director of Public Works reported that the Township's next energy project is to install energy efficient lighting at the maintenance facility.
"One of the keys to Meridian's success is that they have an energy committee that meets monthly.", said Dean Jackson, President of Planet Footprint's US division, which is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The committee includes the Township Manager, Public Works Director, Facilities Superintendent, Recycling Coordinator and a citizen advisor. "Merdian Township has the perfect combination of up-to-date actionable energy information and municipal employees that are prepared to act on it.", Dean said.
Learn more about Planet Footprint's Energy and Environmental Scorekeeping Service for local government.