3 Ways an Energy Manager Helped Bail Out a City in Crisis

In 2012, four California cities declared a fiscal emergency and/or filed for bankruptcy.

Under that gloomy economic cloud, the City of San Bernardino offers a silver lining—the story of how a part-time energy manager seized opportunities to save money on the City’s energy consumption.

Susan Davis is a Departmental Accounting Technician who has worked for the City of San Bernardino since 2002. She was originally hired as an accounting clerk, and after several promotions, she now serves as a departmental accounting technician.

Responsible for managing and paying the City’s utility bills, Davis needed utility bill management software that made it easy to enter a large amount of bills. The City receives almost 3,000 utility bills a month.

She also needed software that could provide historical information for more than 10 years, so she could demonstrate eligibility for grant monies for future energy saving initiatives. Fortunately, the City’s EnergyCAP energy management software perfectly fit the bill.

Using EnergyCAP, Davis was able to get money for her city in three ways:

• After aggregating accurate numbers for the City’s electric bills, Davis received a $375,000 grant to retrofit city lights.
• The Parks and Recreation Department was awarded $248,000 for a feeding program. A critical component of the grant application was utility bill history that Davis provided.
• Davis discovered a broken pump system for a public lake, got it repaired, and saved future payments of $15,000 per month (correct payments are $500 per month).

To learn more about what Susan Davis did for the City, read the Case Study.