After months of presentations, meetings, and Q&A sessions with a variety of companies, the Waterford Graded School District accepted the proposal from Tower Energy to perform facility upgrades totaling almost $600,000. The full proposal presented at the July 2016 Building and Grounds committee meeting can be viewed here.
A table taken from the proposal is copied below. It shows the consolidated energy savings for each of the projects proposed. With a projected savings of over $150,000/ year the return on investment (ROI) is calculated at only 4 years (48 months). However, this is not the exact proposal that the WGSD Board approved.
Due to the possibility that Fox River Middle School may undergo changes in a few years (see facility study), and the low payback projected for the Fox River EMS Efficiency project (87 month ROI), the board asked Tower Energy to make some changes to their proposal in time for the July 2016 board meeting.
Ultimately, the Board approved “Alternate proposal B”, shown below, which removes the Fox River EMS Integration AND adds the exterior high efficiency exterior lighting at Evergreen at no net cost. Click here for the alternate proposal document. The result is a calculated ROI of only 45 months.
Because the school board approved a 7-year loan for this project, the net impact on the budget will be cost positive during all 7 years of the loan. If all goes well the district will enjoy an estimated $147,000 savings in energy costs per year.
Of course, estimates don’t always become reality. Tower Energy was so confident in their energy savings estimate they were willing to guarantee 75% of the estimated energy savings. This guarantee was solid, and did not allow for a reduction in savings due to an unusually cold winter or unusually warm summer.
The drawback of the guarantee was that for every dollar of savings above 75% of that projected, the district would have to share 75 cents with Tower Energy and retain only 25 cents. Ultimately, the Board passed on the energy savings guarantee. Most were content knowing that Tower Energy’s reputation, as a viable alternative for public school energy efficiency upgrades, is on the line.
It is worth noting that an initial proposal by a different company totalled over $1,000,000 and was to take approximately 12 years (144 months) for ROI.
Posted by Matt Kranich on 8/7/2016
WGSD Parent and School Board Member
About Tower Energy
Tower Energy is a local company with headquarters in Racine, WI. You can view their website here: Tower Energy describes its mission as:
“To provide energy efficient solutions for any type of commercial, industrial, or retail facility. We provide a free energy assessment followed by a comprehensive proposal for energy reduction alternatives for that facility. In addition, we identify and secure all eligible grants or rebates offered by the local utility and provide the customer with an ROI and payback on every job.”