Posted: 10/20/04

School expects to save energy dollars

Keeping cuts away from the classroom is a priority, and as a result, the Forest Lake Area School District continues to seek out innovative ways to save money. This November the district will undertake one of its most ambitious projects. Excel Energy has provided the district with additional rebates to implement lighting retrofits. The project provides for a five-year payback with the energy savings directly benefiting the general fund after the financing has been paid off. The lighting retrofit project has the potential of reducing electrical consumption by about $70,000 a year. A similar project occurred during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 school years for schools serviced by Connexus Energy. The Connexus projects produced savings that positively impacted the districtís general fund. Another cost savings measure that proved valuable last year will be used again this year to reduce gas costs. During the 2003-04 school year the district began to use a price hedging strategy to purchase natural gas. This has had a stabilizing effect on the districtís utility budget and prevents the district from being subject to the wild natural gas price swings during the winter.

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