Oceanside CA— On June 18, 2015 at the 10th Annual San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) Energy Showcase event, the City of Oceanside was honored by SDG&E for its remarkable results in energy efficiency and conservation. Oceanside was chosen as the 2015 Energy Champion in the Local Government category.
The City of Oceanside reduced energy consumption by implementing several projects. Energy savings was realized and maintenance costs reduced using smart grid technology while improving street lighting levels with an environment-friendly product. With a goal of maximizing energy efficiency, Oceanside’s team conducted a Citywide street light inventory and retrofitted 7,700 street lights with LED lights. The new LED lighting has adaptive controls which will help enable a Smart City network. The City expects a 50% energy savings from the new lights, plus an additional 20% from the adaptive control units. Oceanside plans to soon begin Phase II of the project, which includes the installation of 900 LED lights on the pier, parks, parking lots, and post tops for safety and added energy savings.
Additional energy and water saving actions include transitioning to drought-tolerant landscaping, installing artificial turf and smart irrigation controllers at city facilities, turning off ornamental fountains, and expanding its existing recycled water capabilities.
The City has also implemented both photovoltaics and cogeneration to offset its energy use. This includes a 1 MW solar array at the San Luis Rey Water Reclamation facility, as well as cogeneration that burns waste gas from the digesters there, and at the La Salina Wastewater Treatment Plant. Moving forward, through its reclaimed water facility, solar and cogen plants, the City is continuing its commitment to reduce costs and improve the environment.
Oceanside has a dedicated “Green Team” which helps spread the word about the importance of sustainability to the residents of Oceanside, while also spearheading internal efforts which have helped to expand recycling by 4x, reduce waste by approximately 30%, and bring the City closer to meeting its commitment of being a zero waste city. The Green Team has an educational mobile app available here.
“The sustainability efforts that these forward-thinking customers have implemented this past year are outstanding,” said Caroline Winn, chief energy delivery officer for SDG&E. “We are committed to a sustainable future and we look forward to continuing to help our business customers reduce their carbon footprint by finding innovative solutions to reduce their energy costs through the many rebates and incentives that are available through SDG&E.”
SDG&E offers its business customers solutions to manage and save energy including energy rebates, demand response programs, free onsite energy-efficiency assessments and zero-interest financing programs. For more information on energy and money-saving programs available to SDG&E customers, call 800-411-7343, or visit sdge.com/good4biz.