Happy New Year! …church fiscal year that is! This is a good time to make a climate action resolution while being more fiscally prudent.

One important way to have a climate mitigation impact and save money is to use less electricity. Simple actions like turning off unnecessary lights (outdoor lights while the sun is shining) and indoor lights (turn off when no one is in the room). That coupled with management of heating and air conditioning can save money. You can be a climate hawk by increasing your awareness at church (and home), then take action.

So what is our impact “by the numbers”? Church campus total usage was about 47,340 kWh. The utility bills show that we used about 19,100 kwh in the sanctuary, offices and education pods during the last year. Additionally, we also paid the city for about 13,200 kWh for the education building. Moreover, our solar panels produced about 5,440 kwh hours this past year for which we were not charged. That analysis is based upon the June utility bill and readings from the solar inverters. UUCT is a Tallahassee Solar customer subscriber so the electricity used beyond the solar production is virtually provided by the first solar farm at the airport. For that amount arguably we are carbon neutral.

You may have also noticed that we have 10 street-lights around the campus that are provided by the city. They use about 800 kWh per month or about 9,600 kwh per year. They are not covered under the Tallahassee Solar Program. We have requested the city to replace them with LED street-lights which should reduce usage. Ed Oaksford and I are revisiting replacement of our solar panels because the federal Inflation Reduction Act now allows for a 30% direct payment for churches and other non-profits plus an additional 10% if panels are made in the USA. We would also like to remove and repair our current panels, which have some bad panels and wiring but have been unable to find a willing contractor.

What are your thoughts on those solar initiatives? What additional ways at church can you think of that will save money on our utility bills? Please let me know surse2@comcast.net.