Conventional Energy

Jefferson County has a wide variety of consulting firms, manufacturers and providers of energy efficient equipment and services.  An example is Energy Service Company (ESCO) that provides energy efficient designs and turn key construction for new buildings and existing building retrofits.  One common energy contracting mechanism is called a Performance Contract (PC).  This is a contract with an owner for completion of energy audits and turnkey installation of energy (and other) efficiency projects. A PC provides end users or owners a method to acquire energy efficiency projects with no capital cost by using the energy savings to pay for third party capital financing. 

The federal government and 30 states have enacted legislation to simplify, promote, and typically require performance contracting.  Legislative authority dates back to 1986 and DOD specific authority is in 10 U.S.C. 2865. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 is the latest legislation extending ESPC to 2016.  In addition, utility companies (Such as Xcel Energy in Jeffco) have energy rebates and incentives that can be applied to energy efficiency projects.  www.xcelenergy.com   

A PC is an agreement between an Energy Services Company (ESCO) and a facility owner.  The owner uses the energy cost savings to pay off the loan that financed the ESCO to complete the energy savings projects.  Energy efficiency projects are completed up front with the resulting ongoing energy savings paying for the improvements over time with typical 5 to 20 year financing terms. 

The ESCO provides an array of services including:

• Facility energy audits
• Identification of cost-effective energy savings projects i.e. lighting, controls, HVAC, motors/pumps
• Design of the chosen energy savings projects
• Selection and hiring of subcontractors
• Construction management of energy savings projects
• Arrange third party financing
• Guarantee savings 
• Provide ongoing operation, measurement, verification and maintenance services