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Energy Management, Efficiency, and Renewable Energy

The Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) region is expected to grow by 48% by 2040, to approximately 10.6 million. Conservation and resource efficiency will be critical to accommodating growth while also preserving existing regional resources.  Implementing  energy management programs, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects can positively impact the North Central Texas region by reducing emissions through the reduction of power generation needed. The linkage between water and energy, or the energy-water nexus, is also important to reducing consumption of important water resources in North Central Texas.

Regional Energy Management Program

In 2018 the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) kicked off a regional effort with the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) to offer water and energy conservation trainings and workshops, expand the use of the ENERGY STAR Building Portfolio Manager tool, provide assistance to local governments in taking advantage of SECO resources, and enhance Senate Bill 898 energy program reporting. 

SECO's Local Government Energy Program 

The Local Government Energy Program is available to all Texas' publicly funded: Cities; Counties; Public Independent School Districts and Special Districts (Airports: Port Authorities; Utility Districts; Water Districts and River Authorities). Its purpose is to provide a number of integrated services to assist in setting up and maintaining effective energy efficiency programs. The program assists entity officials through energy-efficient partnerships, technical support, preliminary energy assessment services and training workshops. 

Local Government Energy Reporting

The Texas Health and Safety Code §388.005(c) requires each political subdivision in a non-attainment area or an affected county to establish a goal to reduce electric consumption by at least five percent each state fiscal year. In 2019, the 86th Legislature passed Senate Bill 241, extending the timeline for this requirement seven years beginning September 1, 2019.  

Each political subdivision must submit a report annually to SECO regarding the entity's progress and efforts to meet the five percent annual reduction goal.  Fiscal Year 2019 reports should be submitted online to SECO by February 1, 2020. Beginning 2021, SECO will require entities to report their annual electric consumption based upon the calendar year, rather than the fiscal year, and reports will be collected by February 1 of each year. Information submitted to SECO will be included in an annual report to members of the Texas Legislative and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, providing entities a great opportunity to gain recognition for energy efficiency efforts. 

To learn more about who must report, and how, please visit the SECO webpage for Local Government Energy Reporting.         

Technical Assistance for Local Governments 

Looking for help with your energy or water management? SECO's Local Governments Energy Program can provide free assistance with various aspects of an organization's energy and water efficiency. They can also assist with the identification and implementation of a wide range of energy and water-related facility and infrastructure upgrade and retrofit initiatives. To learn more about these resources or request 
services from SECO, simply visit the corresponding online resource linked below. 

 

Additional Resources

Webinar: Procurement Options to Support Energy Reduction
 

Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM CST

A variety of procurement options are available to local governments to get energy efficiency projects started, ranging from purchasing cooperatives to cooperative procurement to RFPs. A panel will examine some of these opportunities and how your local government can leverage them to streamline administrative burdens associated with acquiring energy efficiency products and services.

Presenters: 
Jennifer Sanders
Executive Director and Co-Founder
North Texas Innovation Alliance

Gerard MacCrossan
Manager - Data Management, Analytics & Technology
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Craigan Johnson 
Purchasing Supervisor
NCTCOG 

Register: https://www.addevent.com/event/ml4878767


Webinar: Financing Energy Efficiency Projects for Facilities and Services

Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM CST

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), in collaboration with the Texas Energy Services Coalition Chapter and the Texas PACE Authority, is hosting a webinar for local governments interested in learning about energy savings performance contracts, loans and financing mechanisms, and Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs.

Presenters: 
Dub Taylor 
Chief Operating Officer,  Texas PACE Authority

Lisa Tames (Representing ESC Texas Chapter)
Senior Vice President - Energy Services, Bank of America

Matt Lombardo (Representing ESC Texas Chapter)
Sales Development Manager, Schneider Electric

Eddy Trevino
Director, State Energy Conservation Office 

Recording: 
Video Recording: Financing Energy Efficiency Projects for Facilities and Services

Presentation: 
Financing Energy Efficiency Projects for Facilities and Services


Webinar: Understanding Municipal Utility Bills & Tracking Energy Consumption

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) in collaboration with Texas Energy Engineering Services, Inc. (TEESI) is hosting a webinar for local governments interested in learning how to accurately read their municipal utility bills. This webinar will walk through a typical monthly electricity, natural gas, and water bill and provide a brief overview of the state mandated Local Government Energy Report due to the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) each year. Additionally, attendees will learn how to take their monthly utility data and input it into ENERGYSTAR Portfolio Manager as an effective energy benchmarking tool.

Leveraging COG Programs and Funding to Support Energy Management for Your Members

Created by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) just for other Council of Governments (COGs) - this webinar showcases how to leverage existing COG programs that already have complementary energy management related elements to help drive energy efficiency and management initiatives for members in your region. NCTCOG shares with other COGs their experience on working with energy management programs and provides recommendations on programs that can help facilitate leveraging funds that are already available to you. Example program areas include: solid waste, emergency preparedness, air quality, transportation, and weatherization programs.

Webinar was produced in partnership with the Texas Association of Regional Councils e-Learning Series.

Recording: 
Presentation: 
Additional Resources:   

Facility Retrofits to Reduce Overall Energy and Water Consumption

Facility retrofits are a beneficial way to improve energy and water efficiency and reduce overall consumption and save money. This workshop will explore ways local governments can implement facility retrofits to reduce overall consumption within their own facilities. Financing and technical resources will be highlighted that can be accessed by local government entities in North Central Texas. The process to receive free technical assistance and preliminary energy assessments (PEA) from the Texas State Energy Conservation Office will also be covered.

Presentations: 
Flyers & Handouts: 

Emergency Preparedness and the Energy Supply  

Disruptions in power occur for a variety of reasons in North Central Texas. Natural and man-made hazards can lead to disruptions in electric services to local government facilities, residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. This workshop will explore ways local governments can better prepare for future disruptions by reducing their electric demand. By reducing demand on the grid through improvements in energy efficiency and implementation of technologies such as distribution generation and microgrids, local governments can improve their resilience to grid outages. Integrating energy efficiency into resilience planning will also be explored and resources for local governments to evaluate energy efficiency as a tool for resiliency will be provided. Additionally, integrating alternative fuel vehicle technology and infrastructure in emergency preparedness applications will also be discussed.

Presentations:
Flyers & Handouts:

Lowering Local Government Energy Consumption Through Energy Planning and Policies 

Good management of government-owned facilities is critical to reducing local governments' energy and water expenses, as well as air quality impacts associated with power generation. The foundation of good management is good planning. Establishing operational and maintenance protocols and policies are important components of any energy management plan. Having well defined goals and policies can be important to ensuring that energy consumption is minimized to the maximum extent possible. This workshop will provide information for local governments on the following topics:
  • Establishing energy plans and policies
  • Internal policy and program changes to avoid energy waste through behavior and Operation & Maintenance changes
  • Statutory reporting requirements for cities, counties, state agencies, and institutes of higher education
  • Resources provided by the State Energy Conservation Office

Presentations:
Flyers & Handouts:

Energy Management for Local Governments: Legislative Requirements, Benchmarking, and Tools to Measure Energy and Water Use

Public entities in North Central Texas spend large portions of their budgets on power for city facilities and services.  The power generation needs associated with this energy use also impacts air quality at a regional level.  Good management of these assets is critical to finding opportunities to reduce energy and water expenses, as well as associated air quality impacts. In addition to it making good financial sense, many local governments are required by state statute to report energy consumption to the Texas State Energy Conservation Office annually.  Benchmarking and energy reporting tools can streamline efforts for filing this report. This workshop will provide information for local governments on the following topics:
  • Senate Bill 898 reporting requirements for cities, counties, state agencies, and institutes of higher education
  • Benchmarking and the value of understanding your facilities' energy and water use
  • Energy Star Building Portfolio Manager
  • Free energy audits and other resources offered by the Texas State Energy Conservation Office
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Presentations:

Flyers & Handouts:


SECO Resource Overview and Renewable Energy Planning and Procurement Workshop

The intent of this workshop was to provide NCTCOG members: 1) an overview of Utility Rate Analysis and determining what types of utility rate structures/procurement strategies make the most sense for your organization; 2) information about energy management resources available from the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO); and, 3) planning and procurement of renewable energy through long-term renewable energy purchasing agreements that are now available for local governments.

Presentations: 

Publications 

​Whitepapers:
Case Studies:

 

Other Publications: 


Conserve North Texas

             This website was developed to provide local governments and other users a "one-stop-shop" for a comprehensive inventory
             of programs, tools, case studies, and other resources that address water, energy, and transportation topics. It is hoped that
             this will help users quickly locate resources that meet their needs while also highlighting “silo-busting” projects that have 
             found ways to conserve resources in multiple areas. Visit www.conservenorthtexas.org for more information.

Go Solar Texas

             To increase deployment of solar across Texas, NCTCOG has worked to compile key resources for Texans interested in 
              learning more about going solar, and developed Texas-specific resources on best management practices for local
              governments. Visit www.gosolartexas.org for more information. Links to the most popular topics on this page are below:

Key resources and projects that NCTCOG supports for North Central Texas are highlighted below.

DFW Clean Cities Coalition
The use of alternative fuels support reduction goals of the DFW Clean Cities Coalition. Visit www.dfwcleancities.org for more information.
 

Renewable Energy Projects

State Energy Conservation Office
In 2016 NCTCOG partnered with the Texas State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) to expand best management practices for solar photovoltaic systems throughout the State of Texas. Under the project, NCTCOG focused on supply side and demand side activities, including items such as outreach to niche markets, providing trainings and solar information statewide, and expanding permitting and ordinance templates statewide. Visit www.gosolartexas.org for more information.

Solar Ready II
In 2013 and 2014 NCTCOG participated in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Ready II program by partnering with the National Association of Regional Councils, the Mid-America Regional Council, and Meister Consultants Group.  NCTCOG worked with local governments and interested parties to implement best management practices and provide training for solar energy in the DFW region.  The goal of this project was to improve the DFW solar market by providing a more streamlined and standardized solar process. Visit www.gosolartexas.org/local-governments for more information.    

Regional Stewardship

Regional Integration of Sustainability Efforts (RISE) Coalition
The Regional Integration of Sustainability Efforts (RISE) Coalition, formerly the North Central Texas Stewardship Forum, works to engage interested local governments in peer-exchange opportunities to support sustainability and environmental initiatives.

The North Central Texas Environmental Stewardship Forum (Forum) began as an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant funded effort dedicated to bringing together North Central Texas (NCT) governmental and quasi-governmental organizations to share best practices, lessons learned and resources to ease the burden of developing and supporting sustainability and environmental initiatives. Having completed the grant, the participating cities and EPA acknowledged the value the Forum brought to communication and collaboration to achieve environmental goals and have recently established the Regional Integration of Sustainability Efforts (RISE) Coalition to carry on the activities the Forum started. Visit www.nctcog.org/envir/development-excellence/rise-coalition for more information.

Resources


For more information, please contact Crysta Guzman at cguzman@nctcog.org or 817-695-9107.