Independent Record

City sees drop in energy usage, emissions

By LARRY KLINE - Independent Record - 12/27/08

A report compiled by Helena officials and the city’s Climate Change Task Force shows that the Capital City’s government reduced its energy usage between 2001 and 2007 by 22.1 percent and its carbon dioxide emissions by 18.1 percent.

City officials knew the energy-saving changes they’d made in those years — everything from using more efficient light bulbs to installing smarter temperature controls — would make a dent in Helena’s energy usage, but they were surprised to learn they’d outpaced the Kyoto Protocol’s 20-year goals in less than a third of the time.

The drops in energy usage have translated into taxpayer dollars over the years. Using 2007 dollars, the city has saved more than $640,000 in energy bills throughout the six-year period. The city still saw a 61 percent increase in its energy budget due to rising prices, which added $757,000.

And the numbers don’t reflect some of the larger changes made at the city’s largest energy user, its wastewater treatment plant.

The Custer Avenue facility and Helena’s two water treatment plants together saw a 49-percent cut in energy usage and a 37-percent drop in carbon dioxide emissions.

Workers have since installed efficient new motors at the plant and next month will add two Sterling engines to the wastewater plant. The engines will generate electricity from methane gas, further reducing energy bills and eliminating the need to burn off excess methane.

Officials obviously were pleased with the results, but the Climate Change Task Force’s charge is to cut Helena’s energy use and emissions even further.

“It was an unexpected but pleasant surprise,” task force vice chairman Pat Judge said. “Most of these kinds of processes (in other cities) come up with increasing amounts of greenhouse gases, so the fact that we’re on the right track is encouraging.

“It’s important for the city to get its own house in order and lead by example, and it appears they’re doing that,” he added.

Judge said the improvements the city has already made are rapidly paying for themselves, and he expects the trend to continue as officials undertake new projects.

The task force is specifically studying city government operations. This summer, members will turn a slate of recommendations over to city commissioners, who will study the costs and potential benefits. While they aren’t charged with developing concrete recommendations to reduce Helena residents’ energy use and emissions, they’ll offer some suggestions for the public.

The group and city workers used software from the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives to put together the data. They’ll be able to use the same program to develop forecasts of the city’s energy use and emissions and use the model to predict the impacts of potential recommendations.

City Manager Tim Burton said he was pleased with the results and looks forward to the group’s recommendations. Meanwhile, city officials are continuing to analyze Helena’s fleet of vehicles, biofuel use and other projects to squeeze out more energy and carbon savings.

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com