Around the Arch Blog

The City of Reno in nearing completion of the first phase of the Reno Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative. The Initiative represents a $20 million investment in energy projects funded through grants, rebates and future energy savings. The Initiative was launched at direction of the Reno City Council in 2008.

In the spring of 2011, the City received a $568,700 grant from the Nevada State Office of Energy through the Stimulus Act to install LED pedestrian signal lights and street lights. Through the grant, the City has installed 781 LED pedestrian signal lights that are 77% more efficient than the old ones. The City also installed 730 LED streetlights at intersections that are 44% more efficient. All told, the retrofit will conserve 490,329 kWh per year and save the general fund more than $48,000 per year. There will be additional savings with decreased maintenance needed.

The Reno Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative has successfully performed numerous energy retrofits and installed solar and wind energy systems on City facilities since the first solar array went in in December 2008. To date, the City has installed 9 wind turbines and is receiving power from 1,287 kW in solar PV. In December 2011, the City surpassed 1,000,000 kWh from these renewable energy systems. Production from all systems can be monitored and downloaded from the Green Energy Dashboard at www.reno.gov

31 kW solar PV array at Fire Station #11 in northwest Reno.

The City of Reno in nearing completion of the first phase of the Reno Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative. The Initiative represents a $20 million investment in energy projects funded through grants, rebates and future energy savings. The Initiative was launched at direction of the Reno City Council in 2008.

The year before the Initiative was launched the City used 20,338,249 kWh and had a total energy bill of $5,146,343. The bulk of the work was completed in 2010 and 2011 and the savings are already starting to show. In 2011, the City had reduced its electricty use to 14,985,571, a 26% reduction. The total energy bill also decreased to $3,924,091. In 2012, the City should realize even greater savings as there will be a full year of savings.

The City of Reno recently completed adding 1,027 kW of solar photovoltaic electricity to its power supply through a third party Power Purchase Agreement with Nevada Solar Works. With the addition of these projects under the Reno Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative, the City will receive 18-20% of its power from the sun.

The largest installation is at the Stead Wastewater Treatment Plant. It is a 522 kW array consisting of 2,520 panels that is estimated to produce almost 1 million kWh per year.

The project was made possible through the NV Energy SolarGenerations rebate program made possible by the Nevada State Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada.

You do. If you live in Reno, the general fund pays for the streetlights. In the last couple of years, the City has been performing retrofits to lower its energy bills. In May, the energy bill for all city buildings, parks and other facilities was less than the roughly 10,000 streetlights in the City. Should the City look to reduce the number of streetlights?

Look up next time you are at a stop light. In February 2010, the Nevada State Office of Energy started a streetlight retrofit program with funds from ARRA. The City of Reno was awarded $568,700 to retrofit the streetlights above 1/3 of its intersections. The streetlights will save 1,997,766 kWh per year and save the City’s general fund at least $195,816 per year.

The City of Reno Renewable Energy & Energy Efficency Initiative continues to reap benefits. This year the City used 16, 145,851 kWh. That is down from the 17, 502,179 kWh used last year and well below the 2003-2008 average of 20,605,596 kWh. That is a 22% reduction and we haven’t finished the energy retrofits or installing all of the solar photovoltaics.

Reno is hosting the National Geothermal Energy Summit on Aug. 16-17. Actually, we’re co-sponsoring the event because we feel strongly that Reno is one of the most important geothermal energy centers.

When we say ‘geothermal energy’, we mean all the energy generated by the natural heat of the earth. And Reno is definitely a hotspot!

Check out the wind turbines on top of City Hall to see how much energy they are creating. The City launched its new web tool “Green Energy Dashboard” that gives current information on how much energy is generated from its solar and wind projects throughout Reno.

On October13, the Reno City Council approved a Solar Power Purchase Agreement with Nevada Solar Works. This will lead to the installtion of 1,424-1,624kW of solar PV. This will cost the City nothing out of pocket and provide about 17% of the energy used by the City for a fixed price. It starts at $0.075/kWh and goes up 2% per year.