Honeywell will plan energy savings for city

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Honeywell Inc. will prepare a detailed plan for reducing Hudson’s energy costs under an $8,400 contract approved by the City Council on Nov. 24.

A committee of city officials that has been meeting with Honeywell Energy Services Group representatives on ways to reduce the city’s energy costs recommended the more detailed study and plan.

Hudson Mayor Dean Knudson announced shortly after taking office last April that one of his goals is to reduce city energy consumption by 10 percent.

Knudson said during a Finance Committee meeting preceding the recent City Council meeting that Honeywell had proposed that the city enter into a performance management contract with the company.

Under that plan, the city would have paid Honeywell $70,000 a year for 15 years to make energy efficiency upgrades. The city, in return, would have been guaranteed to recoup the cost through energy savings.

City Administrator Devin Willi in a memo to council members said the committee that met with Honeywell reps wasn’t ready to commit to a long-term project.

The committee wanted more specifics on the proposed project, “including details on each project, costs associated with each project and information on the urgency of each of the possible projects,” Willi said.

The plan ordered by the City Council will allow the city to choose from a “menu” of projects that it could undertake. It also would allow the city to seek bids from vendors other than Honeywell.

Willi said there is no doubt that the city needs to undertake an energy-saving plan. Its spending on gas and electricity for its buildings is above the average for other public buildings in the state, he said.

A preliminary study by Honeywell said the company could reduce the average energy costs for Hudson’s buildings from the current $1.44 per square foot to $1.07 per square foot (with a conservative energy-saving plan) or 98 cents per square foot (an aggressive approach).

The city’s current costs for electricity, natural gas and water at City Hall are $1.29 per square foot, according to Honeywell.

The company said the costs for the Hudson Municipal Building are $1.66 per square foot, and for the Public Safety Building, $1.56 per square foot.

The city is paying $1.16 per square foot for natural gas for the wastewater treatment plant, according to Honeywell.

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