Arizona is wasting lots of energy on water.
On average, 30 to 60 percent of a municipality’s energy bill is spent on moving and treating water. The energy costs of operating public water systems in the Colorado River Basin amount to about $750 million. In fact, the Central Arizona Project, which pipes in water from the Colorado River, is the state’s largest end user of energy.
"To the extent that we reduce the energy bill for our water utilities and waste-water treatment plants, we can reduce the water bills at our homes," said Jorge Figueroa with the conservation group Western Resource Advocates.
In a new report, Figueroa’s organization said utilities can use what is known as “performance contracting” to pay for these efficiency projects. That’s when a public utility, for example, takes out a loan for a retrofit project and the energy company guarantees the upgrades in efficiency and conservation will cover the overall cost of financing.
