News Release

May 5, 2005

Scott County Unified School District 466 to Benefit from Energy Savings program

The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has awarded a grant of $6,041.50 to Scott County Unified School District 466, covering 50 percent of the cost of a district-wide energy audit of facilities. On May 4, 2005, Dale Worley, KCC Manager of the Facility Conservation Improvement Program (FCIP), presented Dr. Dean Katt, Superintendent of Scott County Unified School District the grant check, during a meeting of the Southwest Plains Regional Service Center #626 in Sublette. In addition to presenting the grant check, Worley gave a presentation highlighting the FCIP and the win-win benefits of energy efficiency, improved learning environments, with guaranteed energy cost savings to off-set the cost of facility improvements to representatives of more than 20 school districts and community colleges present.

Scott County Unified School District is the second school district to take advantage of the Facility Conservation Improvement Program (FCIP), administered by the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). It will benefit from $909,007 in energy-efficient facility improvements to district schools. Upgrades to the lighting, heating and cooling systems will not only help the district save energy, but will enable it to redirect its utilization of taxpayer dollars.

In approving projects to be funded through the FCIP, the Scott County School District Board of Education demonstrated its commitment to energy-efficiency and conservation in meeting its’ challenge to provide and maintain positive learning environments.

The FCIP provides an opportunity for public agencies (state, municipalities, counties and schools) to utilize a somewhat new concept known as energy savings performance contracting (ESPC), a comprehensive approach to facility improvements, through a private energy service company (ESCO).

The ESCO identifies and evaluates energy-saving opportunities and recommends an improvement package to be paid for through energy savings. The ESCO guarantees the savings will meet or exceed annual payments to cover all project costs – usually over the contract term of 10 to 15 years. If the savings don’t materialize, the ESCO pays the difference, not the school or public agency. To help ensure savings, the ESCO offers staff training and long-term maintenance services.

The State of Kansas has a master agreement with four pre-approved ESCO’s to provide one-stop, turn-key energy services from project identification and analysis, to design and implementation, to maintenance, to performance measurement and verification.

Energy savings performance contracting offers a streamlined approach to making facility improvements. With a single contract, a school or public agency can tackle multiple energy-efficient projects throughout a facility, rather then doing one project at a time. The ESCO can provide a full range of services and continue working with the contracting public agency once the projects are complete to ensure optimal long-term energy performance is achieved.

Since the Kansas Legislature enacted K.S.A. 75-37,125, establishing the FCIP in 2001, energy-efficient projects valued over $80 million have been successfully completed through the program. These projects have benefited various State facilities, such as universities, prisons, and hospitals. As the program continues to develop, the KCC has expanded its focus to other qualifying public entities, such as unified school districts throughout the state.

For more information pertaining to the Facility Conservation Improvement Program, Energy Savings Performance Contracting, and Energy Service Companies, please visit the KCC website www.kcc.state.ks.us or call the KCC Energy office at 785.271.3170.