Cities partner up for energy savings

Huntington Beach is leading by example in the journey to help Orange County residents and business owners save energy.

The city has partnered with Costa Mesa, Westminster and Fountain Valley and Southern California Edison to reach out to the public with an educational program about saving and consuming energy efficiently.

The four cities have formed the Orange County Energy Leadership Partnership and entered into an agreement with Edison. It’s a collective attempt to launch combined energy-saving programs that could benefit the community at large.

Through the partnership, the four cities will receive about $4 million in grants over the next three years from the California Public Utilities Commission.

But it all depends on energy-saving projects launched by each city and the level of outreach to its residents and business community, said Tom Hatch, Costa Mesa’s assistant city manager.

“This funding is an encouragement, and it allows us to enhance our ability to provide financial components to do even more energy-efficiency programs,” Hatch said.

Both Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa also got separate funds from the federal government that will be used toward updating the lighting systems in two Huntington Beach facilities and replacing five chillers at Costa Mesa City Hall, including one in the Police Department.

Huntington Beach received $1.7 million and Costa Mesa received $1.2 million from the federal stimulus package.

Updating the lighting system in Huntington Beach, among other energy savings techniques the city is spearheading, will save about $100,000 a year, said Aaron Klemm, the city’s energy project manager.

Huntington Beach is also installing an energy information management system, which keeps track of the city’s energy use, Klemm said.

“We want to encourage the community and the businesses in the community to use energy wisely,” he said.

Both cities will provide residents with information on how to save energy by inviting Edison to hold events in the community.