STATE COLLEGE, PA., Sept. 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Due to focused leadership in changing its utility bill processing system, Miami-Dade County is on track to save $2 million in annual utility spending.
The County pays out $100 million every year in electricity expenses, yet until very recently they did not have a streamlined and homogenous process for dealing with the thousands of electricity invoices received every month. But thanks to the combined efforts of a seven-member leadership team that brought together 24 County departments under a single energy management umbrella, the County now has a centralized system.
The new system is EnergyCAP energy management software, which quantifies the County's electricity consumption and associated costs. EnergyCAP enables the County to measure, manage, and monitor the performance of more than 1,500 facilities, including Miami International Airport, PortMiami, 70 fire stations, 100 parks, and other public facilities with over 4,500 electrical meters.
County leaders saw the value of providing Miami-Dade with a single utility bill management software platform while contributing towards the County's electricity reduction targets, supporting the County's Electricity Master Plan and the County's sustainability plan called GreenPrint. The mayor's office created an interdepartmental team, the Utility Billing Management Working Group (UBMWG) to spearhead this major energy efficiency project. Key goals of the project included converting all Florida Power & Light (FPL) utility bill processing to Electronic Data Interchange processing, reducing countywide energy utility bill costs, improving utility bill auditing/accountability, and improving utility bill management efficiency.
For a solution to take hold, more than 200 employees across 24 County departments would have to be trained on new software, many with jobs that had nothing to do with energy management. For that to happen, they needed to understand how their actions and decisions affected the big picture of Miami-Dade's electricity consumption.
The County also needed a way to benchmark buildings and gather reliable data that could demonstrate the savings from special energy management projects. EnergyCAP not only fit the bill, but also met a challenging list of selection criteria, including a proven track record in utility management, multiple implementations of clients comparable in size and scope to Miami-Dade, and integration options for the County's public-facing website. EnergyCAP's cloud-based reporting options would enable members of the public to review and track energy usage for both private and commercial properties.
Working Group members began reaping the rewards of their efforts almost immediately. The County is anticipating annual ROI utility savings of nearly $2 million, representing two percent of the County's annual electricity expenses. "It is believed that just seeing the electric bills saved us the two percent," according to Dan Coogan, Energy Management Analyst for the County.
"I am proud of the members of the Utility Billing Management Working Group who have worked on the deployment of this solution that will help our tax payers save nearly $2 million per year," said Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. "This is the kind of ingenuity, efficiency and fiscal responsibility that our County staff is taking to help make Miami-Dade one of the top communities to live and visit."
Members of the Miami-Dade County Utility Billing Management Working Group are:
- Patricia Gomez, Sustainability, Regulatory and Economic Resources Department, Team Leader
- Dan Coogan, Internal Services Department
- Greg Govia, Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department
- Maurice Jenkins, Miami-Dade Aviation Department
- Gaspar Miranda, Public Works Department
- Wanda Suarez, Information Technology Department
- Connie White, Finance Department
For more details about Miami-Dade's savings, please read the case study at http://www.energycap.com/media/products/miamiDadeCounty-1.1.pdf
For information on Miami-Dade County's GreenPrint initiative, visit http://www.miamidade.gov/greenprint/home.asp.
EnergyCAP energy management software is used by government, commercial, and education clients of all sizes to identify billing errors, benchmark buildings to spot inefficiencies, motivate occupants to conserve, run reports to present data, track greenhouse gas emissions, measure and verify energy management performance, and perform campus chargeback billing.
To learn how EnergyCAP can make the most of city or county energy data, please visit www.EnergyCAP.com/government.
About EnergyCAP
EnergyCAP is the best-selling energy management software. With online and installed software for organizations of any size, EnergyCAP delivers powerful energy and greenhouse gas tracking, utility bill processing, reporting, analyzing, and benchmarking. An ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year, Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Company, and industry leader for over 30 years, EnergyCAP provides implementation, training, bill processing, and support services. The website is www.EnergyCAP.com. (For sales in Canada, please contact EnergyCAP Canada at http://www.energycap.ca)