what we do :: COMMUNITIES
Midwest Efficiency Cities
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At a glance, it might seem like the cities of Milwaukee, Apple Valley, MN, Grand Rapids, MI and River Falls, WI have little in common. But scratch the surface and you will find that they share a goal—they are all on the way to becoming models of community-wide energy efficiency. Representatives of these communities met in Chicago in October 2008 to kick off a regional collaboration designed to pioneer implementation of energy efficiency investments and practices. Each of the cities has unique plans to reach energy savings goals in their neighborhoods, business communities and municipal facilities. By working together, they hope to share their expertise and realize greater savings than have been achieved in the past. |
Community Energy Leadership Webinar Series Visit www.ecw.org/celwebinars for more information. Topics include green jobs, program evaluation, program design and auditing community energy use. |
A year ago, Midwestern governors pledged to meet the projected energy growth in the region through energy efficiency by 2015. This translates to roughly a two percent reduction in the use of energy each year.
Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin utilities already have some of the best energy efficiency programs in the country. These programs capture annual savings ranging from .5 percent in Wisconsin to .6 percent in Minnesota and .7 percent in Iowa. Milwaukee, Apple Valley, Grand Rapids and River Falls will demonstrate the unique and essential role of cities in achieving significant improvements in energy efficiency.
The project partners have agreed to work with the Energy Center of Wisconsin to share routines for evaluation, training and communications. "The cities will learn from each other, cultivate new ideas and identify resources for their local projects," said Ingrid Kelley, project manager for the Energy Center. According to Kelley, an underlying premise of the project is that cities are better positioned to achieve accelerated energy efficiency goals than other levels of government. Their density, independent regulation of land and buildings and highly visible leadership give them opportunities to identify effective strategies for their community.
The Energy Center of Wisconsin will manage the collaboration, facilitate communications among the cities, develop online training opportunities, maintain a website for participants and publish a guidebook at the end of the two-year project.
"The whole idea is to make it easy for one community to replicate best practices from another community," Kelley explained. "Partners will have the opportunity to learn what works and what doesn't. They won't have to reinvent the wheel."