Clute, Texas Begins $5.7 Million Energy Efficiency Project

Schneider Electric announced the signing of a $5.7 million energy savings performance contract (ESPC) with the city of Clute, Texas. The ESPC was designed to prepare the city’s infrastructure for anticipated population growth, making it more cost effective and energy efficient.

The implementation of a variety of retrofits to aging infrastructure are being financed through the ESPC, include lighting and water metering, as well as the installation of a new wastewater treatment plant. The project is expected to save the city of Clute more than $300,000 in annual operational and energy costs, while also ensuring the city’s infrastructure can meet increasing demands from a larger population.

Schneider Electric is working with the city to completely rebuild its wastewater treatment plant, including replacing the city’s water meter population and installing a new advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system. Clute’s existing metering system is comprised of several differing and manually operated manufacturers, resulting in numerous inefficiencies amounting to more than $250,000 per year in lost water revenue. The new AMI system is more accurate and will allow the city to maximize its water revenue. The AMI system will also save time, reducing the need for meters to be manually read, and allow staff more time to perform regular and preventative maintenance and handle emergencies more efficiently.

In addition to the meter replacement, the new wastewater treatment plant is projected to save the city 57% annually in energy costs. These savings can be attributed to the facility’s aeration system with blowers and piping that operate at the optimized air output to match the constantly changing demand at the plant instead of constantly running at full capacity. When operating at maximum efficiency, the plant will meet the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permit limits.

“Wastewater projects are a significant undertaking and can be essential to a city’s financial and environmental success,” said Tammy Fulop, vice president of sales, Energy & Sustainability Services at Schneider Electric. “In the project with Clute, we are able to customize a wastewater and metering solution that will have a positive impact on the entire city’s infrastructure, functionality and sustainability.”

The city of Clute additionally requires significant interior and exterior lighting retrofits across all of its facilities, as well as upgrades to the city’s traffic signal lighting. These lighting upgrades alone will save the city more than 72% in annual energy costs. In total, the ESPC will save the city more than $300,000 annually and have a tremendous environmental impact, saving more than 2 million kWh, which is the equivalent of taking 229 cars off the road or planting 33,800 trees.

“The city of Clute is extremely excited to partner with Schneider Electric on three energy savings projects for our city. Throughout the process of working with Schneider Electric, including the audit and design processes, they have been professional, knowledgeable and extremely customer focused,” said Gary Beverly, Clute city manager. “Their team of engineers, financial and customer representatives have provided us with first rate information to make the proper decisions for our citizens. We would highly recommend their services.”

Source: Schneider Electric