Bayfield County moves toward energy independence
By JULIE BUCKLES
The County Journal Published: Friday, July 2, 2010 10:48 PM CDT
WASHBURN — One initiative at a time, Bayfield County is becoming a statewide leader in alternative energy solutions.
Backed by federal stimulus money, the county recently purchased two hybrid vehicles for its fleet and is now poised to buy five vehicles that use compressed natural gas (CNG), construct a CNG fueling station, and spend $152,000 on a list of energy-saving measures for its buildings and lighting units.
Not to mention other fuel-efficiency projects they've already implemented, like the solar hot water system at the Annex building installed last April. The system saves the county about $14 per day in gas bills or about $5,000 per year — and will pay for itself in nine years. The solar panels have an estimated life span of 30 years.
"There's financial payback for Bayfield County on these projects, plus we reduce emissions and our carbon footprint," said County Administrator Mark Abeles-Allison. "These are things the county has committed to."
Specifically, Bayfield County, along with eight other Chequamegon Bay communities, entered into a voluntary partnership with the state to become a 25x25 Energy Independent Community.
In essence, by signing the 25x25 agreement, the county agreed to reduce overall energy usage and to rely on renewable energy sources for 25 percent of its energy use by 2025.
"The best analogy I've heard," said Kelly Westlund, director at the Alliance for Sustainability, which facilitated a baseline energy assessment for the Chequamegon Bay region in 2009, "is that if you think of the region's energy use as a pie. We need to shrink the pie first and then fill in the renewable energy slice."
Bayfield County was one of the first pilot communities to partner — there are now over 70 Energy Independent Communities — and therefore got in on the ground floor for funding, Westlund said.
With a $152,000 federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, Bayfield County will begin shrinking its energy pie over the next year.
With a list of seven identified energy saving projects, from replacing the Annex building windows, to installing light sensors, to installing solar hot water and insulation at the former ag station, the county estimates yearly savings of $23,322.
The environmental savings include: 218,284 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity — the average annual use for about 20 U.S. households, according the 2008 Department of Energy statistics — 5,891 therms of natural gas and 69,278 pounds of CO2 emissions annually.
For its slice of renewable pie, Bayfield County received a $182,839 federal grant, part of the $15 million in Recovery Act money awarded to Wisconsin for clean transportation projects.
The state awarded funding for 346 alternative energy vehicles throughout the state — all to be purchased within the next 18 months — and funding for three natural gas fueling stations — two in Milwaukee and one in Bayfield County.
"Bayfield County is right on top of things," said Mark O'Connell, technical coordinator on the Wisconsin Clean Transportation Program that is administering the grants. "They're setting the pace for other fleets."
The county purchased two hybrid vehicles last month — about one-tenth of its administrative fleet — for its Health Department and for its Human Services Department.
The new hybrid cars average 45 mpg versus low 30s for their other vehicles, saving the county roughly $3,500 over the life of the vehicles.
The county will add another five vehicles that use compressed natural gas (CNG). The grant monies cover the $10,000 difference between the cost of a regular vehicle and the cost of a CNG-specific vehicle.
The CNG vehicles will reduce fuels costs in those vehicles by at least 50 percent, Abeles-Allison said.
And reduce the county's carbon footprint. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CNG use reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent, nitrogen oxide emissions up to 60 percent, ozone-forming hydrocarbon emissions by up to 75 percent, carbon monoxide by 90 percent and produces almost no particulate matter.
Grant money will cover the costs of installing a small CNG fueling station. Abeles-Allison said the fuel is not new — it's natural gas, compressed and then stored at high pressure. "It's been used for fleets of buses and taxis for years," he said.
Julie Buckles can be reached at [email protected].
The County Journal Published: Friday, July 2, 2010 10:48 PM CDT
WASHBURN — One initiative at a time, Bayfield County is becoming a statewide leader in alternative energy solutions.
Backed by federal stimulus money, the county recently purchased two hybrid vehicles for its fleet and is now poised to buy five vehicles that use compressed natural gas (CNG), construct a CNG fueling station, and spend $152,000 on a list of energy-saving measures for its buildings and lighting units.
Not to mention other fuel-efficiency projects they've already implemented, like the solar hot water system at the Annex building installed last April. The system saves the county about $14 per day in gas bills or about $5,000 per year — and will pay for itself in nine years. The solar panels have an estimated life span of 30 years.
"There's financial payback for Bayfield County on these projects, plus we reduce emissions and our carbon footprint," said County Administrator Mark Abeles-Allison. "These are things the county has committed to."
Specifically, Bayfield County, along with eight other Chequamegon Bay communities, entered into a voluntary partnership with the state to become a 25x25 Energy Independent Community.
In essence, by signing the 25x25 agreement, the county agreed to reduce overall energy usage and to rely on renewable energy sources for 25 percent of its energy use by 2025.
"The best analogy I've heard," said Kelly Westlund, director at the Alliance for Sustainability, which facilitated a baseline energy assessment for the Chequamegon Bay region in 2009, "is that if you think of the region's energy use as a pie. We need to shrink the pie first and then fill in the renewable energy slice."
Bayfield County was one of the first pilot communities to partner — there are now over 70 Energy Independent Communities — and therefore got in on the ground floor for funding, Westlund said.
With a $152,000 federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, Bayfield County will begin shrinking its energy pie over the next year.
With a list of seven identified energy saving projects, from replacing the Annex building windows, to installing light sensors, to installing solar hot water and insulation at the former ag station, the county estimates yearly savings of $23,322.
The environmental savings include: 218,284 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity — the average annual use for about 20 U.S. households, according the 2008 Department of Energy statistics — 5,891 therms of natural gas and 69,278 pounds of CO2 emissions annually.
For its slice of renewable pie, Bayfield County received a $182,839 federal grant, part of the $15 million in Recovery Act money awarded to Wisconsin for clean transportation projects.
The state awarded funding for 346 alternative energy vehicles throughout the state — all to be purchased within the next 18 months — and funding for three natural gas fueling stations — two in Milwaukee and one in Bayfield County.
"Bayfield County is right on top of things," said Mark O'Connell, technical coordinator on the Wisconsin Clean Transportation Program that is administering the grants. "They're setting the pace for other fleets."
The county purchased two hybrid vehicles last month — about one-tenth of its administrative fleet — for its Health Department and for its Human Services Department.
The new hybrid cars average 45 mpg versus low 30s for their other vehicles, saving the county roughly $3,500 over the life of the vehicles.
The county will add another five vehicles that use compressed natural gas (CNG). The grant monies cover the $10,000 difference between the cost of a regular vehicle and the cost of a CNG-specific vehicle.
The CNG vehicles will reduce fuels costs in those vehicles by at least 50 percent, Abeles-Allison said.
And reduce the county's carbon footprint. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CNG use reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent, nitrogen oxide emissions up to 60 percent, ozone-forming hydrocarbon emissions by up to 75 percent, carbon monoxide by 90 percent and produces almost no particulate matter.
Grant money will cover the costs of installing a small CNG fueling station. Abeles-Allison said the fuel is not new — it's natural gas, compressed and then stored at high pressure. "It's been used for fleets of buses and taxis for years," he said.
Julie Buckles can be reached at [email protected].