BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Schneider Electric has promised to save Bradford County hundreds of thousands of dollars in utility costs while performing deferred facility maintenance.
County commissioners accepted the agreement following a presentation from Larry Perrin that was months in the making. Perrin and his team from Schneider Electric have been meeting with county staff on a plan he said will result in much needed upgrades for county facilities that will be paid for in part by the utility cost savings generated by these changes.
“The biggest piece of this was finding ways to fund the much-needed deferred maintenance work, because I know one of. things that you all are always tasked with doing is trying to do more with less. You want to be able to put those funds back into the community, to pave roads, to build sidewalks, things like that, but you also have to upkeep your facilities, and that’s one of the things that we’re looking at trying to help you all with,” he said.
Perrin said Schneider Electric has 30 years of experience working across the country and has spent many years working in counties like Citrus and school systems as small as Jefferson County.
Whether its upgrading infrastructure to make facilities more efficient or introducing new technology or software, Perrin believes they can also make a difference in Bradford County.
“One of the great things about the way we go to business is we come in make sure that there’s an opportunity on the front end, and then we actually design and engineer the project. We construct it, manage it, find the financial solutions for the county,” he said, adding that support will be ongoing. They’ve had a partnership with Citrus County for 14 years, he said.
“One thing that we looked at here, as a county you all have extremely high utility rates,” he said. “So, one thing that we are exploring as a potential option to generate some revenue for the county to address facility needs is solar projects.”
The county’s annual utility bill is close to $400,000. That includes electricity costs at the larger facilities and a greater than expected water use at the jail. Reducing that cost is one way money could be shifted to infrastructure investments.
Based on the Schneider team’s survey, the courthouse and jail have HVAC equipment that is 15 to 20 years old, and the jail could be switched over to LED lighting. The HVAC system at the library has drainage problems that have caused water damage. LED lighting at the conference center would brighten the space and save money. Some HVAC equipment there is also more than 20 years old. Humidity in the county extension office has warped ceiling tiles, and the aging HVAC is likely responsible there, too. Even the senior center as the newest facility has room for improvement.
Without a solar project at the courthouse, the annual utility cost savings could be around $55,000 ($14%), or $1.47 million over the length of the partnership. With a solar project, the savings could grow to $164,000 a year (41%), which adds up to around $5 million over the length of the partnership.
“The courthouse, the jail, any of the facilities that are operating that need those deferred maintenance needs addressed, there’s four and a half to five million dollars that you’re going to spend one way or the other that can be used to address a lot of those needs,” Perrin said.
The design agreement the county entered with Schneider Electric is collaborative, so commissioners and staff will help direct what goes into the resulting scope of work.
“I think there’s some great opportunities, some great ways to save money. So, our next step is to get started with that design and move forward with that process,” Perrin said. By law, Schneider must save the county more money than the proposed upgrades cost. When upfront costs are a concern, they have set it up lease-purchase agreements, minus any rebates, incentives or grants they are able to obtain, resulting in an annual payment.
“It’s just reallocating the same money that you’re spending now over time to upgrade your facilities, rather than to pay your utility costs. But we have to bring back a project that saves the county more than it’s going to cost,” he said.
If Schneider Electric designs a qualifying project, but the county chooses not to move forward, there is a $34,000 exit fee the company would receive for its work. That is a rare occurrence, Perrin said. If they cannot design a qualifying project, the county would owe nothing.
After two years following completion of a project, Schneider would be paid an annual fee for technical assistance and maintenance, with the cost determined by level of service required. This is optional, however. The county would not be locked into a 20-year maintenance agreement.
Perrin also said to help guarantee projects will perform or overperform in terms of savings, the numbers quoted are conservative — around 85% of their actual savings projections.
