MAYOR BILL WHITE ANNOUNCES ELECTRICITY SAVINGS AND PROGRAM TO MAKE CITY FACILITIES MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT
October 4, 2007 - Mayor Bill White today announced that The City of Houston will save over $34,000 a year in electricity costs and reduce annual CO 2 emissions by 277 tons with the purchase of energy efficient devices for all existing beverage vending machines in city facilities. In addition to retrofitting the existing machines, 50 new ENERGY STAR rated vending machines were added as well.
"This is just one of many things we are doing throughout the City to manage our costs and save energy," said Mayor White. "Replacing traffic signals with LED lights, for example, will end up saving us millions of dollars. In the 2007 State of the City address, I challenged the business community to join us in slowing energy consumption in the next three years. Our goal is to make Houston the energy conservation capital of the world. It makes good business sense."
The City of Houston purchased 285 energy efficient devices for beverage vending machines in City-owned and operated facilities and parks. The devices, which reduce energy consumption by powering down the machine when the surrounding area is vacant, will be installed on the beverage vending machines in the coming weeks. Together these energy saving devices will reduce the City's vending machine electricity consumption by forty to fifty percent. This represents an annual savings of $34,712 or $98 per machine.
The mayor has focused attention and effort on energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption. The City launched its residential energy efficiency website, HoustonPowertoPeople.com, earlier this summer to provide citizens with energy saving tips and information on tax incentives. Reducing the electrical consumption of the City's vending machines is just one step in a plan to reduce energy consumption in City-owned and operated facilities in order to save tax dollars by operating in the most cost-effective manner and addressing the risks of global warming.
Once the City's beverage vending fleet is fully equipped with the new energy saving devices, the existing vending inventory will operate as efficienctly as the EPA's new and rebuilt ENERGY STAR beverage machines which meet the strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.
