Flex Your Power Case Study: City of Azusa

While most cities saw rate increases in 2001, City of Azusa residents enjoyed the same rates they had in 1993 due to an extensive energy management program. The city responded to the energy crisis in 2001 with a threepronged approach: (1) public outreach via a large business load reduction program and a residential customer conservation program, (2) employee outreach and (3) a city facilities load reduction program. The three programs were designed to produce an initial 5 MW reduction from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. between May 1 and Sept. 31, and load reduction maintenance thereafter. In total, city employees saved $12,700 in energy costs. The city made 5.25-7.15 MW available for energy reductions should it be called upon to reduce load. The city also began work on a long-term energy efficiency program that includes upgrades to city buildings.

The goal of this program was to conserve energy in Azusa, California.

City departments were able to reduce 1 MW on-call, reduced energy consumption in total by 14 percent and saved $12,700 in energy costs when compared with the same months in 2000. The City of Azusa expected 48 kW of demand savings and 875,000 kWh savings from the lighting and HVAC retrofits.

The City of Azusa exceeded its goal for businesses, with 4.25-6.15 peak MW curtailed. A scheduling spreadsheet
was updated and distributed daily. Nineteen of the city's 34 largest commercial/ industrial customers committed to the program.

Outreach programs in schools cost $53,000. An annual projection of energy, gas and water savings from the school projects are as follows: 387,030 kWh electricity; 50,076 therms of gas; 9,500,476 gallons of water; and 9,500,476 gallons of wastewater.

Winner: Flex Your Power Energy Conservation Award (2002).