We will commit 10% of
the City's annual energy bill to fund energy-saving
investments in City operations
New York City's government spends nearly $800 million
a year on electricity, natural gas, and heating oil-and
consumes roughly 6.5% of the city's energy. Investments
in LED stoplights and retrofits to City-owned buildings
have already saved the City money and reduced the City's
energy consumption. The opportunity exists to go much
further-but the hurdle has always been the competing
priorities that pit energy-saving investments against
other uses of City funds.
That is why we will propose an amendment to the City
Charter requiring that New York City invest, each year,
an amount equal to 10% of its energy expenses in energy-saving
measures. These measures will include creating systems
and tools to manage the energy use of City buildings
centrally; conducting routine energy audits and tune-ups
of City buildings; retrofitting City buildings and improving
maintenance to save electricity and heating bills; and
converting streetlights to LEDs when the technology
becomes available.
With aggressive management and the funding that this
amendment would provide, we are committed to reducing
the City government's energy consumption and CO2 emissions
by 30% within 10 years.
Progress (as of 4/22/08):
On October 22, Mayor Bloomberg signed Executive Order
109, directing the City to reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions by 30 percent by 2017 through energy efficiency
and other building related upgrades to City-owned
facilities. The Order also established a steering
committee of top City officials and set out both short-
and long-term goals for the committee. On December
5, the committee submitted a short-term plan to invest
$80 million for efficiency projects in 132 buildings
and a series of pilots and studies. The committee
now has consultants on board to help develop the long-term
plan due by June 30.
Progress (as of 10/22/08):
On July 7, the City’s Energy Conservation Steering
Committee released its Long-Term Plan for Reducing
Energy Consumption from Municipal Buildings and Operations,
detailing how the City will achieve a 30 percent reduction
in municipal greenhouse gas emissions by 2017. The
report demonstrates that the goal can be achieved
and that while it will cost $2.3 million, the City
will begin to break even in fiscal year 2013 due to
energy cost savings.
Read
the Long-Term Plan for Reducing Energy Consumption
from Municipal Buildings and Operations
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