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.

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.

Residents will be able to track the City of Reno’s progress towards decreasing its carbon footprint with a new interactive website.

The Green Energy Dashboard, http://greenenergy.reno.gov, provides detailed information on 11 solar and wind turbine systems that have been installed on City facilities, with new sites to be added in the coming months. In several formats, the Dashboard displays the energy generated by the City’s solar and wind systems, allowing users to select custom date ranges as well as export the data. Residents will also be able to use the data to better predict what they could expect from installing similar systems at their homes or businesses.

In June and September of 2009, the Reno City Council approved a series of energy-efficient projects. The projects encompass solar photovoltaic systems, a wind turbine demonstration program, solar thermal heating systems, lighting retrofits, control systems, and a variety of HVAC upgrades. These projects make up the City of Reno’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative, representing an investment of $19,067,678 in projects. The entire program is funded through a combination of Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, Clean and Renewable Energy Bonds, Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds, Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds, and RenewableGenerations rebates, offered by the local utility, NV Energy. Energy savings, projected at $996,903, will be used to pay off the bonds, making no impact on the City’s general fund.

When all the projects are on-line, the City will save 6,800,000 kilowatt hours and 225,000 therms per year and will lower its carbon footprint by 17,200,000 pounds of CO2 each and every year. The energy projects financed through all of the above mechanisms will be installed and commissioned through April 2012.

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.