How to Lower Your Electric Bill: A Utility Case Study

摘要

Reducing operating costs has resurfaced as a primary objective for water utilities over the past few years. There is extreme pressure on utilities to maintain water rates or at the least, minimize rate increases, in the face of increased regulation, aging infrastructure, and the threat of privatization for municipal systems. To operate in this competitive business environment, water utilities must scrutinize their operating costs and reduce expenditures as appropriate. When segregated into broad cost categories, the most significant elements of a water utility budget include labor, chemicals, energy, and in many cases debt service on bond issues for capital projects. Traditionally, in the public sector, debt service on bond issues and labor costs have minimal flexibility, leaving chemical and energy costs with the greatest opportunities for cost reductions.As energy-intensive technologies (such as ultraviolet radiation, ozone, and membranes) become more prevalent in drinking water treatment, energy consumption is a more significant element of utility operating costs. In 1996, the City of Ann Arbor Utilities Department replaced chlorine with ozone as its primary disinfectant resulting in a 45 percent increase in electrical costs. Currently, annual energy costs top $1 million for the utility. Because of the significance of this cost category, the Water Utilities Department has focused on energy costs as one means for cost reduction.