Black Rock Solar
City of Reno’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative
By Jason Geddes, Ph.D.

In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint and lower its energy bills, the City of Reno began an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative under the City Council Green Priority.
The first step was selection of an Energy Services Company (ESCo) through the competitive Request for Proposal process. In August of 2008, the City selected APS Energy Services (APSES) as its ESCo. APSES began a year-long financial-grade audit including electricity, natural gas, and water use at all City facilities. The audit was completed in August of 2009 and submitted to City staff.

In June of 2009, the Council approved a series of projects and more projects were approved in September of 2009. The projects involve solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, a wind turbine demonstration program, solar thermal heating systems, lighting retrofits, control systems, and a variety of HVAC upgrades. More details on projects and their status are available at the Around the Arch blog and the Green pages at www.Reno.Gov.

As part of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative under the Green Priority, the City of Reno is installing solar PV and solar thermal systems on City facilities. The systems installed to date include a 50-kW array at the Corporation Yard, which came on-line in December 2008 and a 30-kW array on the Downtown Parking Gallery, which is intended to offset the power usage of the West Street Market. Most recently, the City installed a 180-kW array on the Downtown Events Center, the largest system rebated through the NV Energy RenewableGenerations program.

The City has also engaged in installing wind turbines to offset its energy load and demonstrate to the citizens how the new generation of urban wind turbines compares to the old style wind turbines. Two to three turbines will be installed near each other with an anemometer to measure wind speeds and show energy output versus manufacturer listed output. The sites that have been selected are on top of City Hall, on top of the Downtown Parking Gallery, Mira Loma Park, and the Stead Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The Green Initiative represents an investment of $18,787,841 in renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects. The entire balance is funded through a combination of grants, rebates, and energy savings requiring no funds from the general fund. When all the projects are on-line, the City will save 6,800,000 kW hours and 225,000 therms per year and will lower its carbon footprint by 17,200,000 pounds of CO2 each and every year.

Jason Geddes is the Environmental Services Administrator for the City of Reno.

LINKS & RESOURCES

APSES http://www.apses.com/

Reno Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Initiative http://www.ci.reno.nv.us/index.aspx?page=2000

Reno Government Site/Green Pages  http://www.reno.gov

Around the Arch blog http://www.reno.gov/index.aspx?page=1730

NV Energy RenewableGeneration Program
http://www.nvenergy.com/renewablesenvironment/renewablegenerations/