San Antonio Energy Efficiency Fund
Cities, Financing, Low- and Zero-Energy, Utility
On August 8, 2011 the San Antonio, Texas City Council passed Ordinance 2011-08-18-0657, which established the Energy Efficiency Fund (EEF) to fund energy conservation projects in its facilities that reduce utility expenditures. The fund was designed to receive utility saving dollars from completed utility conservation projects as well as project incentives or rebates received from CPS Energy and SAWS. City Council adopted a mechanism to return the utility savings and incentives or rebates from utility conservation projects funded by the EEF back to the EEF. All current and future projects as well as associated personnel costs are funded out of the EEF without incurring debt. This method has effectively turned a one-time influx of grant funds into a permanent source of revenue for energy projects. San Antonio is the only city in the State of Texas with such a fund in place and is one of only a handful in the country to utilize this model.