Colusa rewarded for energy efficiency

Colusa’s efforts to save energy put the city on the nice list this year, and earned  $66,483 from Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

“This is a great Christmas present,” said Colusa Mayor Bob MacKaben.  

The energy efficiency measures built into the new wastewater treatment plant will help the city save over 831,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, according to PG&E, which qualified the city to receive an incentive rebate.

PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson said when Colusa upgraded and increased the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant, the city implemented several energy efficiency measures to qualify for the rebates, including the installation of premium efficiency motors, variable frequency drives \for control pumps and blower motors, fine bubble aeration, and low pressure ultraviolet treatment. 

The program is known statewide as “Savings By Design,” a program for commercial, industrial, high tech and agricultural customers to encourage energy-efficient building and process design and construction.

The program, administered by California’s four investor-owned utilities under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), offers owners and their design teams a variety of services, Swanson said.

Among the services provided is technical design assistance to analyze and design more energy-efficient buildings and process systems and owner incentives of up to $500,000 per project to help offset the investment in energy-efficient building and design.

MacKaben said the rebate was used for construction and operations at the new wastewater facility.