Naugatuck Schools Saving $1M in Energy Costs, Says Official

The Naugatuck school district is now saving $1 million annually in energy costs after implementing over $12 million in improvements to borough schools over the past six years, according to an energy company official contracted with the borough.

“This has been our biggest success story in the area, it truly has,” said Jerry Drummond, account executive for the Siemens Corporation. “There’s no other community that I know of in Connecticut in which I can say that.”

Drummond presented to the Board of Education Thursday evening the results of a Connecticut Conference of Municipalities energy program the borough began participating in seven years ago. In the five-phase program Siemens was contracted to install energy improvements to borough schools in the form of lighting, boilers, air conditioning and other services, Drummond said. 

There was no upfront cost to the borough, he said, however the $12.3 million spent over the past six years for the upgrades was paid out through regular borough operating budgets.

“This is the money you would have been spending on utilities anyway,” he told the board members and Superintendent John Tindall-Gibson.

There is still, however, a regular contractual cost each year, so the result is it's a cost-saving for Naugatuck.

As a result, Naugatuck schools are now saving more money on electricity bills, even higher than originally expected, Drummond said. Originally, Siemens projected the cost in savings to be $644,398, however it roughly equals just over $1 million, according to a chart he presented during the meeting.

“We cut your electric bill in half, a 51 percent reduction,” he said. “That is very, very admirable.”

The borough schools have also reduced oil consumption by 26 percent and natural gas by 29 percent, he said.

During his review, Drummond said Naugatuck was being proactive. He said while other municipalities might have to catch up to newly enacted energy legislation, the borough will already have the systems in place.

“It’s good to hear we’re being proactive in Naugatuck rather than reactive,” Chairman David Heller said.

Tindall-Gibson said the agreement with Siemens is a performance contract, which is based on realizing savings. Part of the contract includes updating the board with details on the program, which was the purpose of the meeting, he said.

Controller Wayne McAllister said it’s likely Phase 6 of the program would tie into efforts by the Long Term School Facility Planning Committee to reformat borough schools down the road.