Kings Park Central School District

    
Local governments have been using energy performance contracts (EPCs) to increase energy efficiency, improve operations, and save money for over twenty years. Large-scale energy-efficiency improvements result in energy and operational savings but typically require an initial investment. The Kings Park CSD has engaged in two EPCs since 2000.  An EPC uses energy savings to finance the cost of new equipment and other capital improvements over several years (typically 18-20 years). In addition, by bundling multiple small up-front improvements, an EPC allows entities like Kings Park CSD to leverage money from quick paybacks on those improvements to finance the larger scale investments, thus generating savings for each year of the project.

In a typical EPC process, the local government entity first hires an engineering/architectural firm to assist in the design and coordination of the project.  For this project, the Kings Park CSD has chosen to work with The ECG Group.  ECG specializes in energy performance contracts.  Next, the local government hires a private energy services company (ESCO) to conduct an investment-grade energy audit1 of its assets and identify cost-saving energy improvements. If the local government and ESCO agree to pursue the contract, the ESCO guarantees a level of cost savings to result from implementation of the energy improvements. An EPC can vary in scope. Some contracts are for just one building or a sample of buildings, while others are for managing an entire portfolio of buildings.  For the current EPC, the focus includes boilers and production of solar energy.