Editorial: Energy Savings - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

Editorial: Energy Savings

Posted: Updated:
By Collin R. Gaston - bio | email

  • Editorials

  • Tuesday, May 21 2013 7:20 PM EDT2013-05-21 23:20:08 GMT
    The horrific tornadoes that ripped through Oklahoma this week bring back all too familiar memories for Alabamians as memories of April 27, 2011 are still fresh in many minds. When Alabamians were in need
    The horrific tornadoes that ripped through Oklahoma this week bring back all too familiar memories for Alabamians as memories of April 27, 2011 are still fresh in many minds. When Alabamians were in need

  • Thursday, May 16 2013 7:20 PM EDT2013-05-16 23:20:04 GMT
    In my editorial on Tuesday I chided our legislators for being the last state to pass a no-brainer  bill legalizing home brewing.  Today I want to challenge them to be one of the first states to pass another no-brainer;
    In my editorial on Tuesday I chided our legislators for being the last state to pass a no-brainer  bill legalizing home brewing.  Today I want to challenge them to be one of the first states to pass another no-brainer;

  • Tuesday, May 14 2013 7:20 PM EDT2013-05-14 23:20:07 GMT
    Kudos, or perhaps, cheers to the Alabama Legislature for passing HB9, the home brewing bill. Legalized home brewing may not be up there with education reform or prison funding, but it was overdue. 
    Kudos, or perhaps, cheers to the Alabama Legislature for passing HB9, the home brewing bill. Legalized home brewing may not be up there with education reform or prison funding, but it was overdue. 
    •   
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -

The Montgomery Public School System is saving energy, saving money and ultimately saving teachers jobs.

Montgomery Public Schools Energy Education Specialists had some good news last week - a report that the school system saved $421 thousand dollars in energy costs over the first six month months of the year. That represented a 15.2 percent reduction in utility costs.  These savings alone would fund approximately 7 classroom teacher positions.

Over this same six month period the school system saved over 1.7 million kilowatts of electricity and nearly 52 thousand cubic feet of natural gas preventing some 1.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.  What does this mean for our environment? The answer – these environmental measures had the same impact as if we removed 262 cars from the road.

The savings are the result of a contract with Energy Education, a Texas based company that has assisted over 1,100 clients produce energy savings of over $2.3 billion.  They helped the Montgomery Public School System change their human behavior, because people, not buildings, use energy.

We commend their initiative, progress and results to date and strongly encourage every school system in the state, and every state agency for that matter, to do an assessment of their energy usage and present a plan for how much they can and what they can do with the savings.

Good for the budget, good for the environment and in this case - good for our children.

We welcome your feedback.