Flex Your Power Case Study: City and County of San Francisco

San Francisco has extensive energy conservation and efficiency programs for city-owned facilities and for residents and businesses. In response to the 2001 energy crisis, Mayor Willie Brown in April created the Mayor's Energy Conservation Account (MECA), which provided $15 million for conservation-oriented capital projects throughout city-owned facilities. The funding has helped the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) implement 13 efficiency projects that were estimated to conserve 60 million kWh annually and as much as $5 million a year in avoided energy costs.

The goal of these projects was to find ways to maximize energy conservation and efficiency through measures with a quick payback period.

Conservation measures were no- or low-cost, and helped 71 percent of city and county departments use less electricity in 2001 when compared with 1999. City Hall facility managers consistently saved 19 percent every month compared with the same month of the previous year, based on analyses of metered data.

The lighting, boilers and HVAC retrofits will save 2.2 million kWh and 50,000 therms/year. DPT energy-efficient lighting retrofits will save 800,000 kWh/year. DPW annual electricity savings was 700,000 kWh. LED greatest savings came from reduced maintenance/labor costs because the LED lights only need changing every 10 years, rather than every one to two years.

Office area standards and conservation monitors resulted in 71 percent of departments using less electricity in 2001 when compared with 1999. City Hall facility managers
consistently saved 19 percent every month when compared with the same month of the previous year.