Hoover City Hall 2019. Photo via City of Hoover’s Facebook

Earlier this week, the Hoover City Council agreed to implement a $9.4 million energy efficiency plan with Alabama Power that will upgrade the city’s energy and utility systems.

The ambitious initiative will not only make the city facilities more energy-efficient, it will also save taxpayers money.

“We are excited to be partnering with the City of Hoover to help make city facilities more energy efficient,” said Anthony Cook, Alabama Power, Birmingham Division Spokesperson.

Saving Energy & Money

Alabama Power Electra — Electra atop the Alabama Power Building – photo by Pat Byington, Bham Now

Here are the details.

According to the Hoover Sun, over the past year, Alabama Power conducted an audit of the city’s energy systems and usage patterns to help determine the savings that could be achieved by upgrading to more energy-efficient equipment and technology.

From that effort Hoover/Alabama Power decided to make the following upgrades:

Install new high-efficiency water chillers, heat recovery chiller and mechanical system and control upgrades at buildings such as Hoover City Hall, the Hoover Public Safety Center, Hoover Public Library, Hoover Recreation Center, Hoover Senior Center, Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover Police Operations Center, Riverchase sewer plant, Aldridge Gardens office and three fire stations.
Upgrade lighting at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Shades Mountain Park, the city sports fields at Spain Park and tennis courts near Simmons Middle School, as well as the replacement and retrofitting of 10,628 light fixtures at multiple buildings across the city.
Replace water fixtures with more efficient technology at 14 city facilities, eliminate a less efficient water system at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and capture sewer credits from irrigation of the field at the stadium.

Hoover baseball — Scoreboard at Hoover Met Stadium, photo by Pat Byington, Bham Now

The annualized cost of the upgrades over 20 years is $871,314, but the city will save $984,032 a year in utility costs and forego $3.45 million worth of capital projects, the Hoover Sun reported.

The energy savings from the entire initiative include reducing utilities by an estimated 8.25 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, 90,890 therms of natural gas, 4.5 million gallons of water and 6,315 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents each year.

How It Works

In a statement to Bham Now, John Lyda, Hoover City Council President describes how the arrangement with Alabama Power will work.

“Alabama Power will put out for bid all the construction upgrades. They will select the lowest responsible bid and award the contract and oversee construction. Furthermore, APCO will pay the upfront cost of construction projected to be $9.4 million. That amount will be financed and amortized over a 20 year term and billed monthly to the City. The City will pay monthly payments for the cost of construction back to APCO on our monthly power bill. The annualized payments to APCO of $871k will be less than the guaranteed energy savings of $984k that the City will realize once construction is completed.”

Great Deal

Modernizing facilities, saving energy and money – this Hoover/Alabama Power energy savings project is a game changer. Let’s hope many more municipalities in our region and throughout Alabama take a look at this model.