February 2011 - Jamestown Board of Public Utilities

City of Jamestown, NY Board of Public Utilities
February, 2011
Discover How Much Electricity
Your Appliances Use
The BPU’s new Kill-aWatt Meter™ Program can
help you discover how much
power your appliances and
electronic products are using. Identifying how much
electricity is being consumed
by such items can help you
save power. The meter may even indicate if more efficient products would help
you save money on your electric bills.
The BPU offers our electric customers
the opportunity to borrow an electric meter for up to 60 days for a $20 deposit.
Once the meter is returned to the BPU,
the $20 deposit will be credited to your
account.
Customers may rent a Kill-a-Watt Meter™ with a $20 deposit at BPU Customer Service, 92 Steele Street, Jamestown, open 7 a.m.—5:30 p.m. weekdays.
Reduce Wasted
Vending Machine Electricity
The BPU offers commercial electric customers an opportunity to purchase a motion control
system which reduces
electricity consumed by
vending machines in the
workplace. The $125
vending machine motion control device is
easy to install and is offered at a $50
price, subsidized by the BPU.
BPU Energy Efficiency Coordinator
Dan Reynolds has tested the motion controller at various locations around the
City. He found that using this product may
reduce electric consumption of cold beverage vending machines by more than
1,000 kilowatt hours each year, saving
approximately $80 annually.
The vending machine control is intended for use with refrigerated vending
machines that contain non-perishable
foods and beverages. The controller
maintains temperatures needed to keep
the products cool, but lowers machine
energy use when it senses no activity.
Overnight hours are an example.
To qualify for this program, commercial electric customers should complete a
form at BPU Customer Service or on the
BPU website (www.jamestownbpu.com)
and submit it to Reynolds at the Jamestown BPU, P.O. Box 700, Jamestown, or
at Customer Service. Once a company is
qualified, a time for pickup or delivery will
be arranged. Installation of the controls
and metering is available upon request.
For questions or more information, contact Reynolds at 661-1646 or by e-mail:
[email protected].
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“Green” Wastewater Treatment Plant Project Progress
The latest Wastewater Treatment
Plant (WWTP) capital project moved
closer to completion this winter when
outside contractors lifted the second
new cover into place on top of the
north digester.
The estimated $3.5 million project
is partly funded through a $2.55 million grant from the federal American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Improvements include the replacement of two 53 year old digester
covers and the addition of microturbines to permit the recovery and
burning of methane gas. A result of
the wastewater treatment process,
the methane gas will be used to produce energy to offset the electrical
and heating needs at the WWTP.
What appears as a flying saucer
in the above picture (left) is actually a
120,000 pound digester cover moved
by a huge crane in January. The
process took significant time, with
care taken to assure safety while the
cover was hoisted above buildings.
A wastewater treatment digester
breaks down sludge into dirt and
methane gas. The methane gas is
captured under digester covers that
appear as domes or as large fabric
balloons above digesters.
A A fixed-seal dome replaced one of
the two aged BPU covers (above,
left). A larger balloon-style cover
(above, right), with a greater capacity
to hold methane, was installed over
the summer.
BPU Bill Appearance to Change in April
The BPU utility bill appearance will change with the April billing. The reverse
side of this newsletter shows a sample of the new bill with numbered explanations of each part of the bill. The larger area (above, right) shows a sample of the front part of the bill, while the smaller area (bottom, left) shows a
sample of the reverse side of the bill.
Why Change the Appearance of the Bill?
The BPU is installing a new computer system which involves all five divisions
of the utility. The new computer system has been implemented successfully
in our bookkeeping, payroll and inventory areas. The next step is to install
the Customer Service component of the system.
Customers have requested options such as the ability to view one’s account
on-line and to make payments on-line. Although these options are not yet
available, implementing our new customer service system and bill will
help us provide these services in the future.
Besides being easy to read, the new bill will be printed in black and white,
without color, which will provide a cost savings.
As noted above, the reverse side of this newsletter contains bullet numbers
pointing to various parts of a sample new bill, explaining each section. The
explanation is also posted at the BPU’s website: www.jamestownbpu.com,
and will be distributed and exhibited at BPU Customer Service and other
locations around the BPU service territory. If you have questions when you
receive your new bill in April, please contact Customer Service at 661-1660.
That Fuel Adjustment Charge (FAC) Will Make Winter Bills Higher…
The third charge on your electric bill after the Basic Service Charge and
the Energy Charge is the FAC—which especially varies in winter. The FAC
represents the cost of our Niagara hydropower, the cost to transport the hydropower to Jamestown by National Grid, the charges by the New York System Independent Operator (NYISO) and the cost of the coal or gas needed
to make electricity at our power plant. The FAC rises when these costs rise.
All of us use more electricity in winter (more dark hours in winter). The
more electricity that is used, the more the BPU must spend to provide this
electricity. Work hard to save electricity, especially now. For efficiency tips,
see www.jamestownbpu.com or contact Dan Reynolds at 661-1646.