Energy waste reduction impacts Coldwater Board of Public Utilities and its customers

According to Bob Granger, energy waste reduction manager at Coldwater Board of Public Utilities, the city's energy efficiency program saved 1,300,142 kilowatt hours of power in 2021.

With power rates going up in September and as the cost of generation increases, it is not only about reducing the carbon produced to create the energy.

Starting in 2009, the program resulted in a total power reduction over the last 13 years, totaling 35,755,271 kWh.

"That is enough electricity to power 4,460 homes for one year and reduces greenhouse gas emissions equal to automobiles being driven for 62,896,939 miles. It's the carbon sequestered by 29,987 acres of US forests in one year," Granger said.

In July, he told the city council that the program, through the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities, provides rebates on a long list of appliances and services to its customer and cutting power use.

When you replace appliances, the city will pay you to recycle many of them.

"We've had that since we've begun the program. We typically get about 60 units a year" at $40 a unit. It's typically for refrigerators, freezers, room air conditioners and dehumidifiers so the pollutant Freon can be safely removed.

CBPU contracts with Michigan Energy Options of Lansing to come down twice a month to pick them up after a customer calls. The company takes them and recycles the hard to dispose of units.

"They scrap the aluminum and the steel, the gases, the Freon gets collected. The plastics and insulation get separated," he said. "One of our more popular residential programs we're running right now is the AC tune-up."

By mid-July, he estimated 250 customers used the program with HVAC service companies. CBPU will rebate $75 for the service.

"It's a good way to reduce your energy costs because this can save you depending on how well you take care of your unit," he said.

Some service the units yearly, others every two to three years, and can save up to 15% power usage.

"You know properly charged systems are the key to efficiency," as well as clean air filters.   "I'm not here to promote them. I want our customers to know there's also a $70 rebate from Michigan Gas just to tune up the heating portion of that system," Granger said.

The customer can pick the service vendor of their choice, as long as they are licensed, turn in the bill and get the rebate.

There are also rebates for those who install wi-fi-controlled thermostats, which also can reduce use. CBPU will pay a $50 rebate for customers with an electric furnace and central AC system. Michigan Gas pays a $70 rebate for those who use natural gas as their primary heating system.

Granger also consults those with high bills using an EZ watt meter. The simple device plugs in line with an appliance.

"It'll tell them exactly what they are paying for that unit to run for the duration of time, a month, a week, whatever they want to set it up for," Granger said.

There also is the Energy Star Home Energy yardstick. This program allows a customer to review power use. Granger said, "It's a neat little tool. It's free. It doesn't take much time. All you need is 12 months of your utility bills, both on the gas and electric side. I would encourage people to look at that. And it might be something that would help them reduce their energy costs for next time."

Granger also warned customers to check for water leaks.

"The typical running toilet wastes 200 gallons of water a day. That's an incredible amount of water that just gets flushed into the sewer system," he said.

Sewer bills are based on water use. If your toilet leaks, "It's also usually an easy project to complete, requiring nothing more than a simple replacement of a toilet flapper or adjustment to the chain attached to the toilet flapper."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Energy waste reduction impacts CBPU and its customers