Electric Co-op Today

FORT MYERS, Fla.—The Texas school district’s superintendent knew the energy usage was too high, but needed some expert advice on what to do. That’s where an electric cooperative stepped up.

CoServ’s Craig Chambers (right) chats with Kent Crutsinger, superintendent of the Sanger Independent School District. (Photo By: CoServ)

CoServ came up with a plan that not only saved energy, but also yielded other benefits for students and teachers of the Sanger Independent School District.

“One of the most important things we did is give the district’s leaders educational material to pass out to their staff to show them how to make a difference,” Craig Chambers, CoServ area manager, told a Jan. 31 session at NET 2012 here.

CoServ’s energy management team joined Chambers in walking through the schools. “We looked for anything that was an energy hog,” Chambers recalled. “We looked for cracks in doors and windows. We looked on the roof. We looked in the attic and saw insulation was missing.”

The Corinth-based co-op came up with several recommendations, and Chambers noted that many “cost no money to them, or very little.” Those included turning off copiers and getting rid of unneeded refrigerators.

The school also bought programmable thermostats to replace the decades-old models. Controls were set and the thermostats locked.

“Only the superintendent had control. The principals had to contact him to change it by more than one degree,” Chambers said. “At the beginning it was a little rough, but it only took about one or two phone calls—and him saying ‘no.’”

Stickers with the phrase “Give-A-Flip” were handed out, to remind teachers to turn off lights when leaving a classroom. “We also passed out free CFLs to every teacher and staff member at the very beginning,” Chambers said, “to let them know that CoServ is a partner in this, and not just telling them what to do.”

The schools were switched to a time of use rate, and Chambers met monthly with the superintendent and principals to share progress reports.

As an added incentive, the superintendent promised that any money saved on energy bills would be returned to the schools.

In the last 12 months, the Sanger schools have saved more than $280,000 and there is still room for improvement. Class schedules are being reviewed, along with how parking lot lights are used. Old, inefficient gym lights need to go.

And the superintendent was good to his word.

“Every teacher got a brand new iMac laptop in their classroom,” Chambers said. “Two of the schools did not have wireless Internet; he purchased that too with the money saved.”

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Tags: Consumer Outreach, Energy Efficiency, NET Conference, Touchstone Energy