Media Contact: Karl Walquist (775) 834-3891

The Tahoe Truckee Unified School District has earned a $4,084 incentive payment from Sierra Pacific Power for investing in energy efficiency at the North Tahoe High School/Middle School in Tahoe City.

To qualify for the utility's Sure Bet for Schools incentive, the school district replaced older generation fluorescent lights with more energy efficient T-8 lamps and installed variable frequency drives on hot and chilled water pumps and air handling equipment. The variable frequency drives reduce the overall amount of power required to operate equipment.

The improvements should reduce the school's annual electricity usage by approximately 272,000 kilowatt hours, or enough energy to serve about 35 households for a year, according to John Hargrove, program manager for energy efficiency and conservation at Sierra Pacific.

"These improvements will provide for a better learning environment through improved light levels and will reduce energy expenditures for the district by about $30,000 per year,"Hargrove said.