ENERGY CONSERVATION

In 1997, Capital Consultants formed the Energy Conservation Program (ECP) with the support of Minnesota Power, a major Midwest utility company. Capital Consultants also represents one of the nations largest electricity suppliers, Sempra Energy of California. ECP is a national energy engineering and conservation program designed to help cities become more energy efficient. This unique program conducts energy audits, reviews a building's current conservation measures, and undertakes the necessary construction and energy engineering improvements for cities, counties, universities, hospitals, nursing homes, and other large institutional and industrial complexes. Developed initially as a pilot program to provide comprehensive energy cost reduction technology, services and financing for municipal governments who could ill-afford the expensive costs of retrofitting city buildings, this entire program can be implemented without the need of any state or local appropriation or other upfront funding. New construction improvements, equipment, and more, are provided FREE OF CHARGE. ECP is paidback from the guaranteed energy savings. Designed essentially as a revolving loan fund, ECP has more than $25 million available this year to help cities become more energy efficient.

The program is implemented in two phases:

1) Energy Acquisition Management
The program provides an in-depth analysis of all utility billings and current energy acquisition procedures and makes recommendations and/or implements plans, when applicable, to reduce the cost of energy acquisitions.

2) Energy Engineering Management
The program provides both energy cost reduction measures and energy production projects. ECP conducts a thorough evaluation and develops a comprehensive cost-reduction program for city facilities. This may include new lighting, new heating and cooling systems, new insulation, etc. All of these construction and equipment improvements are installed and maintained at no cost to the city.

Once the review process is completed, ECP makes every attempt to use subcontractors from the local community for construction and installation. If possible, ECP will also work with local vendors for the acquisition of any new equipment that might be needed. At the appropriate time, a local project manager(s) may also be employed to take over the responsibilities of on-site engineering management and supervision. In this way, ECP not only saves energy, but also creates jobs and stimulates the local economy.

Independent Analysis is the Key
Too often, the energy audits conducted by large vendors and utility companies are less interested in saving the city money and more interested in selling expensive new equipment and services. A vendor's solution to a problem is ususally geared towards what he or she has to sell that month rather than how much money they can save the city. As a result, utility overcharges are often overlooked, and better scheduling and management are often ignored, especially when it is a local utility doing the energy audit. An independent analysis always nets the best results.
ECP is independent. ECP is specifically geared towards helping cities and other large institutional complexes. ECP is not selling anything. ECP only gets paid if it saves the city money. That's real incentive!
As cities attempt to reinvent government, energy cost savings should be among their top priorities. Energy use is a one budget item that is painless to cut. In fact, saving energy can be a real pleasure!

How To Qualify
Participation in this program is limited. Funds are dispensed on a first come, first serve basis. To qualify, a city must:

1) Designate a person in the city's general services or finance department who has access to utility billings and/or understands how this information is stored and collected as well as how it is organized and how it can be accessed.

2) Coordinate the number of contracting authorities within the city if more than one exists (e.g., airport authority, library authority, park & recreation department, schools, etc.)

3) Expedite the approval process for unsolicited proposals and professional services (i.e., ECP provides funds and does not require a capital outlay, so typically cities are exempt from having to use competitive bidding).