Mark Stein and Sean McKenna, who are a part of the facilities management and operations for the Bethlehem Area School District, gave an energy update to the school board March 7 at the facilities committee meeting.

Facilities management presented the mid-year operation review to the board, which consisted of budget updates regarding the electricity and natural gas for the BASD. As far as the electricity goes, an agreement was extended from June 2017 to June 2019. At this rate, there will be a savings of $0.01385/kWH, which is a total of $277,000 in savings. BASD will not see that return until June of 2017.

“Because rates are so low, there is a lot more upward risk than downward risk,” said chief facilities and operations officer Stein. Because of the low rate, the BASD is looking to lock it in for a third year.

As far as the natural gas goes, BASD has extended the current agreement due to end this December through December of 2017. The school district will save roughly $60,000 starting in June of this year.

The facilities management team examined the electrical and natural gas consumption from 2006-16. Stein and McKenna graphed their data on a chart that is measured over a six-year average. Due to the mild winter, energy consumption is well below the six-year average for both electrical and natural gas.

There have been budget impacts as a result of the energy consumption thus far. Specifically, the electricity budget is $2 million for BASD. The anticipated total cost is roughly $1,968,929, which would result in a savings of $31,071 for the district. In natural gas, the budget is $850,000. The anticipated cost for natural gas is significantly less than the budget itself. It is estimated to cost $595,992, which would save the district $254,008.

Within the operations efforts, McKenna has been tracking the use of electricity on a weekly basis and showed he cut down the use of electricity in the school buildings when they were not operating during school hours. He compared November of 2014 to November of 2015. McKenna found they were able to reduce the use of about 400 kilowatts per day during that month compared to the previous year.

“This was due to schedule changing,” he said. By lowering the temperatures in the buildings when the school day is over, the district could save significant money. There are exceptions, though, such as after-school events in the buildings which would obviously require heating to remain on.

The goal is to continue driving down prices and reinvest the savings. School board vice president Shannon Patrick spoke briefly at the end of the presentation to congratulate McKenna on the work he had done. She had expressed her skepticism in the beginning, when the idea to create a specific position for monitoring this data was proposed, but she now agreed with bringing him on board. Patrick finished up by saying, “Thank you.”