Billings Public Schools decreased its energy bill by 26.3 percent or $1,056,033 last year with energy-efficient equipment and practices.
It's projects such as installing solar panels at Riverside Middle School that have allowed School District 2 to save money on energy.
Scott Reiter, the district’s facilities director says with solar panels, the meter can run backwards, not enough for credit, but still a savings to the district each year.
Reiter says the 50-kilowatt solar panels cost more than $300,000.
With about $230,000 in grants, Reiter expects the system to pay for itself in less than 10 years with savings of about $10,000 annually.
The savings is one of several for the Billings public schools which adds up to more than $1 million in energy savings over the last year.
Expenses decreased partly because of equipment installed or replaced.
“When I say we were at 26 percent savings this last year, it's 26 percent better than what it would have been if we did nothing from 2007 to 2008.”
Efficient boilers for heating, LEDs replacing light bulbs and fluorescent lights, and energy-efficient windows are some of what came about from the $39 million maintenance portion of a $122 million elementary district bond that voters approved in 2013.
And the savings also come about from each school conserving energy.
“We try really hard to be energy efficient at Meadowlark,” said Staci Lemelin, principal at the school. “We are conscientious about making sure that the classroom lights are off when we're not in there.”
In a contest several years ago, Lemelin inspired her students to make Meadowlark the most energy-efficient school.
“We worked hard to educate the kids on what energy savings look like,” Lemelin said.
Lemelin says the students also learned about recycling and teachers emphasized the value of energy and how much can be saved,.
“How easy is it to just turn the light off when you leave the room?,” Lemelin said.
Another key part of the efficiency is that Ryder and his crew can check on every school and make sure temperatures stay between 68 and 72 degrees.
Saving energy also goes back to when Reiter's predecessor also had the title of energy manager.
“The saying was a few years ago, nickels and dimes, a million times,” Lemelin said.
“The most efficient light is the one that's turned off,” Reiter said.
And Reiter says that all adds up to more than $1 million in savings on the district's 36 campuses.
