RCM Program = Savings

Posted 07/29/10, by Skagit PUD

Skagit PUD’s facilities offer many opportunities for improved conservation and energy efficiency. The District, in collaboration with local jurisdictions, is participating in the Skagit Council of Governments’ Resource Conservation Management (RCM) program.

The goal of the RCM program is to contain utility costs and reduce utility use, especially energy usage, by eight percent through no-cost or low-cost measures by 2011.

Zero-cost to low-cost conservation and energy efficiency measures encompass both behavioral changes for employees and operational changes.

Behavioral changes could include:

• Turning office equipment off at the end of the day.
• Dressing warmer/cooler rather than turning thermostats up or down.
• Turning lights off in unoccupied rooms.

Operational changes could include:

• Adding timers and/or motion sensors to lighting in in-frequently used rooms.
• Replacing inefficient lighting with efficient lighting.
• Choosing the highest efficiency replacement equipment.

According to an RCM program analysis, the greatest opportunity for cost-savings could be realized through improved energy efficiency measures at Skagit PUD’s 63 pump stations, which consumed 668,545 kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2009.