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Clyde ISD Case Study:

Strategic Energy Management for Local Texas School Districts

Rural schools represent roughly one-third (32,000) of the public schools in the United States and accommodate nearly 14 million students. But due to their geographic locations in remote areas, these schools often face several energy efficiency and renewable energy challenges related to implementation, financing, and operations. Proper energy management planning is an opportunity to assess and prioritize energy-saving measures, identify funding sources, and prepare staff to operate building systems efficiently. 

See how Clyde ISD overcame these barriers to deliver information and services to maximize school building energy performance in our recent Case Study: Strategic Energy Management for Local Texas School Districts

In the coming months, we will begin to dive deeper into the preliminary results of our statewide survey with discussions and focus groups that will be similar to local government engagement roundtables. These virtual meetings will be roughly 1.5 hours long with an interactive component and will unveil issues across the state that are critical to state and federal government priorities based on survey responses.

We invite you to join us for these regional meetings as we cover subject topics related to the communities they serve. The five regional focus groups (North, Central, West, East, Gulf Coast), in addition to the statewide group, will work to bring together a collaboration of cities on issues such as energy equity, resiliency, transportation, air quality, and other issues critical to state and federal government priorities demonstrated through the two recent acts, IIJA and BIL. Please complete the survey and then head over to our event calendar to register for the region that best fits your organization as we discuss our preliminary findings!

SPEER's Annual Industry Workshop:

Landscape Analysis of Local Government Needs Panel

Ready to join SPEER for two days of networking, learning, and discussions with energy experts on topics involving regional grid issues, solutions for record-setting demand, demand-side actions and energy use reduction through distributed energy resources, energy efficiency implementation, Federal funding opportunities for the south-central region and more? We'll cover the changing energy landscape and hear from utilities and state agencies during SPEER’s 2023 Policy + Industry Workshop in Austin, September 14-15.

CELC will host a panel discussion on Landscape Analysis of Local Government Needs. We’ll be joined by local governments, utilities, implementers, service energy providers, and more to present the final report of our survey findings and ways we can aid municipalities in meeting their needs and resource gaps, along with many other topics. Scholarships and discount codes are available for local governments who participated in the focus group/survey as a thank-you for your participation in the survey.

Join the City Efficiency Leadership Council

The City Efficiency Leadership Council (CELC), part of SPEER’S Local Government Program, is a collaborative network of Texas cities, school districts, and other public entities engaged in partnership and resource exchange to expand the adoption of energy management best practices in the public sector. The City Efficiency Leadership Council supports cities of all sizes and school district energy management best practices. This membership is FREE and sponsored by State Energy Conservation Office (SECO). 

A few benefits you can expect from becoming a CELC member include:

• Joining a network of 2,000+ peers and industry professionals
• Ten hours of technical assistance
• Access to templates for climate plans, support letters, and energy plans
• Closed CELC LinkedIn Group for information sharing
• Organization and community highlights in our monthly newsletter and social media channels

CELC Member Spotlight

Upcoming Events + Webinars

Texas Energy Code Compliance Collaborative (TECCC) Q2 Meeting: June 23

The Texas Energy Code Compliance Collaborative (TECCC) was established to find ways for the state to access and improve compliance with energy codes, offer support to local jurisdictions, and engage stakeholders in energy code discussions. The stakeholder group was established in 2011 and SPEER has been leading the quarterly meetings since 2014. We will be joined by representatives from the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) and Texas A&M Energy System Lab (ESL) to provide an update on the energy code training program followed by an open discussion from the audience covering training needs, successes or barriers to increasing code adoption, questions, and more. Register now and join us for this important topic!

Eddy Trevino will be presenting at the IETC conference will take place this month, June 20-22, in Houston. The IETC is hosted by the Energy Systems Laboratory at Texas A&M University, the Texas State Energy Conservation Office, and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. It is a one-of-a-kind conference featuring topics important to industrial energy managers, utility experts, government program managers, vendors, and others. The latest technologies and expertise on smart manufacturing, corporate energy management, energy opportunity analysis, and case studies of successful, real-world industrial efficiency projects are presented.

SPEER CELC Webinar:

Plug load management for commercial buildings

Plug and process loads refer to energy used by equipment plugged into an outlet and according to the DOE, they consume about 47% of primary energy in U.S. commercial buildings. In minimally code-compliant office buildings, plug loads may account for up to 25% of total energy consumption. But plug loads may account for more than 50% of the total energy consumption in highly-efficient buildings. This presentation will focus on the lessons learned by the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) in optimizing and managing its plug load consumption to minimize costs and decarbonize building operations.

Speaker: Carlos Gamarra, Sr. Research Scientist in Clean Energy Technology, HARC

When: July 11th at 10:00 am Central

Grant Opportunities

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants

Overview: Flexible-use grants for planning and deployment of energy-efficient practices and technologies

• Funding: $550 million
• Eligible Entities: States, local gov’ts, and tribes
• Status: Applications are open for $430M in formula grants. Submit Pre-Award information sheet by July 31.
• 105 local governments are eligible for funds in TX.
• All eligible local governments and allocations can be found here.

SCEP State and Local Solution Center

• A resource hub for state and local governments as well as K-12 school districts
• SCEP hosts a variety of webinars with a specific focus on soliciting stakeholder input and providing information to help apply for and deploy DOE programs effectively and efficiently

QUESTIONS? Reach out!

Crystal Perkins– South Central Regional Specialist Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs [email protected]

What are we reading?

This New Device Generates Electricity From Thin Air, Smithsonian Magazine

Global warming set to break key 1.5C limit for first time, BBC

Job Postings

Urban Resilience Coordinator, City of Austin

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