Keystone Central SD facilities staff report $40,000 utility overrun, plan sensor inventory to cut usage

At a facilities committee meeting, Sam, facilities staff, said the district is "over budget for the year right now" on utility costs and estimated the year-to-date expense at about $840,000 compared with an $800,000 budget. He attributed the spike to cold winter months and higher HVAC use.

Sam explained staff now report a cost-per-kilowatt-hour for each school calculated as total cost divided by kilowatt-hours used and noted the figure includes supply and transmission charges. "Every person business owner that I have talked to, their electric bills are almost double what they were before," Sam said, describing the district's experience with a winter surge in December through February.

To reduce consumption, Sam said the district will inventory rooms that lack automatic lighting and purchase motion sensors where appropriate. "Sheldon and his two guys were working on an inventory for all the rooms that don't have automatic lights," Sam said. He also described using nighttime HVAC setbacks to avoid heating empty buildings.

The committee did not take a formal vote but directed staff to continue monthly updates of utility costs and to provide the sensor inventory and suggested cost estimates at upcoming meetings. The committee also noted the 10-year facilities review scheduled for April 2 could inform longer-term energy-efficiency investments.

Next steps: staff will finalize the sensors inventory, continue reporting utility figures monthly, and include sensor/HVAC proposals in future meeting materials.