Flex Your Power Case Study: City of Santa Clara

Silicon Valley Power (SVP) wanted to help customers reduce energy consumption and to increase public awareness about energy conservation and efficiency. The city council also decided that since businesses accounted for 90 percent of energy usage in Santa Clara, 90 percent of SVP’s benefits programs (mostly energy efficiency) would target businesses. SVP held meetings beginning in late 1997 with the Santa Clara City council’s Citizens Advisory Committee for residents and commercial and industrial business groups in coordination with the local Chamber of Commerce to determine what types of public benefits programs should be created. Programs began to be implemented to help residents and businesses reduce and manage their energy usage in 1998.

In early 2001, the Santa Clara city council adopted an emergency resolution to immediately reduce energy use by 5 percent. The council also vowed to pursue efficiency programs, such as the installation of energy-efficient lighting fixtures, in all city facilities to achieve an ongoing 7 percent reduction in energy use.

The goal of these programs was to reduce energy consumption in Santa Clara.

Silicon Valley Power (SVP), the City of Santa Clara’s municipal electric utility, teamed up with its business and residential customers to develop useful and effective energy conservation and efficiency programs. Between July 2001 and April 2002, SVP’s service and incentive programs saved 32,553.58 MWh for the city. That was in addition to the city’s efforts to immediately reduce energy use by 5 percent in 2001 and to pursue installed- efficiency programs in all city facilities to achieve an ongoing 7 percent reduction in energy use.