U.S. Department of Energy awards "Rebuild America" grant to support San Francisco Bay Area energy efficiency partnership

Business Wire, Oct 11, 1995

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 1995--The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today said it is selecting a San Francisco Bay Area organization to receive nearly $1.3 million of energy efficiency support for local efforts to save tax dollars, cut private sector overhead costs, and prevent pollution.

Christine Ervin, assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, presented a grant from DOE's "Rebuild America" program to the San Francisco Bay Area Energy Efficiency Market Development Consortium (EEMDC).

Ervin said the federal money will be combined with local contributions to generate $18 million in investment in the Easy Bay Area. The money will be used to increase the market penetration and effectiveness of energy efficiency services in the region.

Initial target markets include existing commercial and multi-family residential properties in the East San Francisco Bay Area, and the EEMDC will initially launch pilot projects in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville. The longer-term goal is to market energy efficiency products and services throughout Northern and Central California, Ervin said.

"We've found in projects across the United States that energy efficiency investments are among the most effective steps people can take to save tax dollars, reduce pollution, and keep money in the community where it can create more jobs," Ervin said. "The federal grant I've presented today will help the EEMDC bring these results to the Bay Area."

The program will be administered by the Community Energy Services Corp. (CESC), a nonprofit energy service agency created by the Berkeley City Council in 1984.

The CESC and the other members of the EEMDC -- including the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., city governments and chambers of commerce of Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville, the Building Owners and Managers Association of Oakland/East Bay, and property development and management companies -- will generate some $16.7 million in matching funds and investment from government and private sources to carry out the program.

"The EEMDC is a powerful regional partnership of municipal governments and private sector organizations that are teaming up to move energy efficiency into the mainstream of the economy," Mayor Shirley Dean of Berkeley said.

She added: "This program will be a major cornerstone in Berkeley's goal to create an environmental economy in the region. It's a perfect example of how environmental needs can generate a demand for products and services that can drive economic development."

PG&E is contributing services to the project through its customer energy efficiency program.

"The products and services offered through this consortium will bring many benefits to the community -- capital improvements, economic stimulus, cleaner air -- as well as energy savings and greater living comfort to our customers," said Tony Harris, vice president of marketing and sales, PG&E. "We're glad to be part of this effort."

Through the grant, the EEMDC will provide energy service products that provide specific solutions to individual PG&E customer energy needs. For example, services to office buildings may focus on improving tenant comfort, while services to retail establishments may focus on increasing profits by reducing overhead expenses.

By installing comprehensive packages of energy efficiency measures in at least 8 million square feet of floor space in the East San Francisco Bay Area by the year 2001, the consortium expects to achieve the following: -0-

-- Reduce energy consumption by 27 percent in commercial properties and 22 percent in multi-family residential properties, which will reduce building energy costs by $3.4 million annually.

-- Achieve first-year savings totalling 194 trillion Btus of energy for all facilities retrofitted during the five-year project, including 33.3 GWh of electricity and 80.2 trillion Btus of natural gas.

-- Cut emissions of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, by 16,600 tons annually; sulfur dioxide, a precursor to acid rain, by 7.5 tons; and nitrogen oxide, a contributor to urban smog, by 24 tons. -0-

The grant is one of six being made by DOE to cities around the country as part of the federal "Rebuild America" program. The goal of "Rebuild America" is to save building owners and operators more than $600 million each year in energy costs.

"Today, Americans spend more than $50 billion every year to repair buildings, but only a tenth of those investments are made to improve energy efficiency," Ervin said. "That makes no sense. We spend $195 billion every year on energy to operate our buildings -- money that could be used much more productively.

"And energy waste contributes to pollution. Few people know that 35 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from inefficient energy use by buildings."

Members of the EEMDC include the Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Community Energy Services Corp., City of Oakland, City of Berkeley, City of Emeryville, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, Emeryville Chamber of Commerce, Building Owners and Managers Association of Oakland/East Bay, Prentiss Properties, Alliance Management and Leasing, ELH Development Services Inc. and E. Source.