A man who was introduced only as "Chuck McGinnis" made a presentation to the School Board's FTT Committee on November 12, 2007. It was interesting to note that Mr. McGinnis never mentioned who he represented. Even his slide presentation contained only his name. Thanks to my good buddy, Yahoo, however, one can quickly discern that Mr. McGinnis works for none other than Johnson Controls. Yes, the very same Johnson Controls that is the employer of School Board member Jim Carrel. To his credit, Mr. Carrel left the meeting during McGinnis' presentation, and no action was taken by the FTT Committee. It is, however, yet another one of those things that makes you scratch your head and ask...who brought this forward as an agenda item? And, why didn't Mr. McGinnis indicate that he worked for and represented Johnson Controls?
What does our $108,000 per year to E2I buy us? Pretty much:
- They required us to hire an "Energy Manager" at about $50K per year+ benefits.
- They tell us that we should turn off lights to save money.
- They tell us to lower our thermostats in the winter and raise them in the summer.
- They tell us to reduce heating and cooling to unused areas.
WOW! I'm definitely in the wrong line of work! If they can charge over $100K per year to a school district...hell, I'll give the same advice for , say, $75K. Nice!
So, now what is an Energy Performance Contract (EPC)? It's a contract for "comprehensive energy efficiency improvements". Entering into an Energy Performance Contract MAY indeed make sense financially for the district. We are concerned however, that such decisions usually come in hindsight, rather than foresight. Sure we could save more money through loan programs and getting professional assitance in terms of what equipment to purchase. But on the other hand, an EPC would cover many of the things the E2I contract already covers, which makes our spending $9000/month (under a binding contract for 2 more years!) seem like a less than stellar move. Why weren't we considering an EPC back then???? And why did we hire an Energy Manager and , recently, an HVAC technician if these folks aren't capable of providing knowledgeable advice on purchasing decisions such as "green" lighting or "on-demand" hot water system vs. hot water heater.
For more about Energy Performance Contracting
Posts
