PINE BLUFF: Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) and Arkansas Community Correction (ACC) are moving forward with efficiency projects that will generate over $1.6 million in cumulative annual savings for both agencies.
Procured and administered through the Arkansas Energy Performance Contracting (AEPC) program, the ACC and ADC projects will involve converting over 17,000 light fixtures to LED technology, composting annual food waste for use in prison farm operations, and conserving water through a variety of strategic upgrades. In addition, both projects will feature comprehensive heating and air upgrades, an inmate energy education program, and over 2 cumulative acres of solar energy panels.
The projects, which have been in development since 2016, will be implemented in accordance with Act 554 of the 2013 legislative session. Act 554 allows Arkansas’ state agencies to participate in energy performance contracts, in which a project’s annual energy and maintenance savings are used to fully cover the costs of the work over a specified period of time. Under the terms of the legislation and AEPC program guidelines, a project’s annual savings must be guaranteed by the company performing the work. The projects for both ADC and ACC are being implemented by Entegrity Energy Partners, LLC of Little Rock, a prequalified energy services company in Arkansas.
Entegrity partner Chris Ladner said: “We are thrilled to move forward with these impactful projects for ADC and ACC. As an Arkansas company, we are particularly excited to partner with two of our state’s largest agencies to help conserve resources, reduce waste, and save taxpayer dollars.”
The project for ADC will generate over $27 million in energy, water, and maintenance savings over the life of the improvements. Work will be concentrated at two ADC prison facilities: East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys; and Delta Regional Unit in Dermott.
ADC Director Wendy Kelley said: “This project will provide ADC with new, and more energy efficient, equipment. It is progressive and without this project, it would take years to update the aging HVAC and mechanical equipment.”
The project for ACC will focus on all six of the agency’s major correctional centers in Texarkana, Little Rock, Osceola, Fayetteville, Malvern, and West Memphis. Additional minor work will be performed at ACC facilities in Hope, Camden, and Pine Bluff. The ACC project will generate approximately $15 million in energy, water, and maintenance savings over the life of the improvements.
ACC Director Sheila Sharp said: “As ACC follows Governor Hutchinson’s lead and pushes for every efficiency, this project is critically important and very exciting. Many of our facilities and offices are older. They weren’t built with energy conservation in mind, and the more they age, the more they leak. That’s not good for the environment or taxpayers. But the energy upgrades outlined by Entegrity will turn everything around. Utility and maintenance costs will go down far enough to actually pay for the project, and the life of our buildings will go up. There’s no downside at all. ACC can’t wait to get the project rolling.”
The AEPC projects pursued by ACC and ADC represent the first by state agencies in Arkansas. To date, over ten separate public entities have participated in the AEPC program, with over $40 million invested in savings-funded improvements. Completed or underway projects include Pulaski County Government, Arkansas State University, and the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Additional AEPC projects with Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority, Arkansas Tech University, and Central Arkansas Library System are currently in the development phase.
ADEQ Director Becky Keogh said: “Under Governor Asa Hutchinson’s leadership, these projects are exceptional successes of the strategic mission of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s Energy Office. Arkansas benefits from collaborative actions like this between state agencies that deliver immense economic savings to citizens and businesses, advance environmental successes, and provide durable resource conservation.”
The projects for ADC and ACC began this month, and are scheduled to be substantially complete by the end of 2018.
