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County hoping to cut energy costs with help from stimulus funds

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BY ERIC HORCHY

THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: July 4, 2009

DADE CITY - If all goes as planned, Pasco County will receive a hefty chunk of federal stimulus dollars to become more energy efficient.

According to Dan Johnson, assistant county administrator for public services, the county submitted an application for $4.2 million last Wednesday to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. The program is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Most of the funding would go toward primary government buildings and improving their energy efficiency, chiefly via heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system improvements, Johnson said.

County officials previously have been discussing efficiency upgrades and had already "brought a firm onboard" to help with assessing potential savings and conceptualizing the county's future path in the matter, Johnson noted.

That assessment found Pasco could save at a minimum $587,000 per year at current rates of service.

Of the $587,000, about 76 percent of that would come from five primary buildings, Johnson said: the East Pasco Government Center; the West Pasco Government Center; the Pasco County Courthouse, in Dade City; the West Pasco Judicial Center, in New Port Richey; and the David "Hap" Clark Jr. Building, in the Land O' Lakes area.

"We feel pretty good about the application, we got an early jump on it," Johnson said. "Coincidentally, even before we found out about the stimulus money, our Purchasing Department was already headed in that direction."

The amount of money for cities or counties is based on two weighted factors: resident population and daytime commuter population.

Once the funds are allocated, the county will have to report regularly to the Department of Energy, according to an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Web Site. These are the progress points to be reported:

•Jobs created or retained

•Energy Savings on a per-dollar-invested basis

•Renewable energy capacity installed

•Greenhouse gas emissions reduced

•Funds leveraged

There is no set date for approval of submitted applications.

If Pasco does receive the stimulus funding, Port Richey Building and Zoning Official Ed Winch said, every Pasco city likely would have some sort of project wish list the money could go toward.

"It's in its early stage right now," Winch said. "Everyone's hoping they're going to get a piece of the pie. If we are lucky enough to get some of it and bring more efficiency here, there are a lot of different ways to do it at low cost or no cost."

Along with other HVAC improvements in government buildings of the sort Johnson mentioned, Winch said, Port Richey officials have discussed installations of sensing switches that shut off lighting when people leave a room.

Johnson also said solar arrays in county parks and solar hot water heaters in recreation centers have been put on the table during deliberations.

Another added benefit will be the creation of jobs for companies hired to retrofit the various county facilities, Johnson said.

Following the anticipated $4.2 million allocation, Pasco may then be eligible for even more Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant money, Johnson said.

"Some counties and cities throughout the country either didn't follow up with an application or were not interested in it, so there's a good possibility of (the federal government) coming back later in the year saying that, for these counties and cities who didn't apply, 'we've got this leftover money and you can apply for a second round for additional improvements,' " he said.

"We're looking forward to and hoping we can participate in that."

Eric Horchy can be reached at 727-815-1071 or ehorchy@suncoastnews.com.

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