(9)AR 050509 Evaporative Coolers

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ITEM #10 CITY OF COLTON AGENDA REPORT FOR COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 5, 2009 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Jeannette Olko, Electric Utility General Manager SUBJECT: Approve the Sole Source Purchase of Portable Evaporative Coolers, Fans, and Supplies for the Public Benefits Program, from The Home Depot, Inc., in the Amount of $45,873.69, in Accordance with Colton Municipal Code, Title 3, Chapter 3.08.140, Sections (b) and (e). DATE: April 27, 2009 BACKGROUND: In 2001, the Electric Utility initiated a portable cooler program as part of its energy efficiency and demand reduction program. The program is designed to assist low income customers reduce their energy bills and to help reduce summer peak loads for the utility. The program identifies low income customers with the high electric bills, and uses energy audits to determine the cause of the high energy use. The major cause of high bills has proven to be inefficient air conditioners. The high cost to replace existing inefficient systems prevents the low income customers from doing so. Portable coolers have been identified as a potential solution to this problem. The coolers provide customers a way to cool down while reducing their energy usage by approximately 90%. Each year since the test program began 2001, Gerald Katz, Senior Energy Services Specialists purchases and evaluates different manufacture and models of portable coolers for performance and efficiency. The goal is to find coolers that achieve the most cooling efficiency with the least amount of energy usage. We have found that customers will not turn off their inefficient A/C units for more efficient units unless they feel cool. During the summer of 2008, Staff purchased and evaluated six new manufacturers and models of evaporative coolers. The results showed these coolers to be less efficient than the BonaireNail models purchased in the past. Year after year, the portable cooler with the best value and efficiency has been the BonaireNail model, manufactured by Climate Technologies, in Australia. The unit is imported and sold exclusively through The Home Depot, Inc. The BonaireNail unit easily cools small rooms while using only 120 Watts of electricity, as compared to the 1,000 to 5,000 Watts used by existing wall mounted room units, or central A/C. Similar units sold through Lowes, Inc. and W W Grainger have 30% to 42% less air output, and the unit from W W Grainger uses 3x more energy. This portable evaporate cooler program has been acknowledged as one of the most successful programs in the State of California's Summer Demand Reduction Program and is listed in the State of California's "Flex your Power's Best Practices Guide for Local Governments." This program not only saves energy, reduces demand, and lowers costs, but it also provides affordable comfort for many senior citizens, disabled persons, and other low-income families with high electric bills. The average customer participating in this program realized reduced energy costs by approximately 26% (roughly $72 a month).