As the valley temperatures keep rising so does the ambition of the SJVCEO staff. Our very ambitious staff has been very busy with new energy projects as well as being on the road for training's. We all truly enjoy working toward a common goal; making the San Joaquin Valley a better place for all that live or play here.
The organizations VIEW partnership has been busy working with utility and municipal partners on energy projects. Most of the partner cities and counties that the partnership works with have been benchmarked to date and are eyeing energy opportunities in their portfolios. Many projects that are high on the priority list are centering around well work and upgrades at this time due to the extreme drought within the Central Valley. No matter the project our staff here at SJVCEO enjoys seeing the savings roll in for our partners.
Our municipal energy tune up (METU) program is rolling right along and catching savings along the way. The METU analysts are close to being done benchmarking the county of Kern's accounts, which is a pretty big feat since there are over 400 accounts and each account has over 5 years of energy data. Once all accounts are benchmarked our staff will be meeting with county personnel to pinpoint where there are saving opportunities. Two of the cities our staff has worked with are in the process of planning to perform energy efficiency upgrades on their waste water treatment plants. Waste water treatment plants are responsible for about 35% of a municipalities energy budget which is equal to about 10% of a city's budget we are excited to see the savings outcome of the upgrades.
SJVCEO has also been working on other things outside of both METU and the VIEW Partnership. Some of our staff has been participating in the Joint Workshop on implementation of the EPIC program. The Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program is funding for research and development of technology and deployment of new energy solutions.
We would also like to give a big thank you to our two wonderful CivicSpark members Tommy Ta and Zenia Montero. These two CivicSpark members have been a big help on the METU program and will finish up their terms in mid September. They have been working very hard on reducing energy consumption for municipalities in the San Joaquin Valley. We wish them all the best on their many adventures in the energy field!
Also one more friendly reminder that National Drive Electric Week is in early September. Click Here to find events around you!