Whose bright idea was this?
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- November
- 18
How many elected officials (and consultants) does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Who knows, but you can guarantee it’s going to be a pricey endeavor.
Today, Akiko Matsuda reports that Orangeburg Library, which rents space from the Town of Orangetown and pays its own utility bills, ended up getting a big bill ($18,000) when the building was retrofitted as part of a townwide energy audit by Siemens Building Technology. The problem is, no one in the town seemed to explain to the library that it would have to pay upfront for the upgrade. Sure, its electricity bills are expected to go down, but that’s a multi-year recoup of the cost it has to cover in the here-and-now.
The town entered into a 15-year contract for an “energy improvement program.” The program costs $3.2 million including interest, and the town has been awarded $245,000 in federal highway aid as well as $90,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority toward the project. The town expects to save $3.9 million from the audit. Now, some say that’s hardly worth the effort, considering it’s only estimated, but one also has to consider the savings in natural resources, not just the cost of resources.
Energy savings may be smart, but fully informing all involved, and making sure the investment can be paid for, is smarter.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 12:44 pm by Nancy Cutler.
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