Energy Service Performance Contracting
Posted by Roger Valdez 09/03/2009 03:00 PM During Washington’s last legislative session, I wrote glowingly about a bill introduced by Representative Hans Dunshee that would have sold $3 billion in bonds for energy efficiency retrofits in public schools across the state. It didn’t pass. But what appealed to me was that this idea is a 3 for 1 deal. A win, win, win. It could reduce climate changing emissions, create much-needed green jobs in local communities (reviving a flagging economy), and save money on energy bills. In fact, it could create enough savings to pay back the bonds. I called it Green Increment Financing. Maybe this kind of far-thinking, money-saving, job-creating, innovative policy will pass next time around. Meanwhile, I have found out that this kind of financing is already happening in the Northwest—albeit on a much smaller scale—hundreds of thousands of dollars versus the hundreds of millions it would take to retrofit all schools. It’s called Energy Service Perfor...