More money will go to assessments of energy usage by companies

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

A few more Benicia Industrial Park companies will have their operations analyzed for energy and water use and waste production, with the possibility that they could receive reimbursement grants or qualify for no-interest or low-cost loans to make recommended improvements.

Those changes, in part, are recommended to reduce a company’s consumption and waste production, Economic Development Manager Mario Giuliani told the Benicia City Council last week before the panel unanimously authorized a funding change to allow more analyses to be performed.

The projects are intended to improve a company’s bottom line by reducing how much it spends on energy and water. In addition, a company should expect to produce less waste and harmful greenhouse gases.

The Council agreed to switch $50,000 of the Benicia Resource Incentive Program (BRIP) money from being earmarked for those grants and loans. Instead, it will be earmarked for the analyses.

If the change hadn’t been made, few others could have been tested to see what improvement they could make, Giuliani said.

BRIP is an award-winning, $625,000 program that is funded by Valero-Good Neighbor Steering Committee Settlement Agreement money.

That account was established in 2008 by the agreement, and it’s used by Benicia and the Benicia Unified School District for specific endeavors.

All parties have agreed to the settlement, which is like a contract for the money’s disbursement. Money in that account can only be used for specific projects or expenditures.

In 2008, the refinery and the steering committee agreed that of the $14 million settlement account, $200,000 should be spent on air quality monitoring; $50,000 for hybrid cars; $700,000 for trees; $1 million each for a refinery buffer and watershed acquisition; $400,000 for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by Benicia Unified School District; $10 million for water conservation; and $600,000 for Climate Action Plan projects.

In 2010, the pact was modified to allow $2.85 million to be spent on the city’s Community Center, $1 million for the BUSD and Liberty Campus Community Center and $1.4 million for the Valero Condensate Recovery Phase 1 to save 23 million gallons of water a year.

In lieu of attorney fees, $150,000 also was earmarked for community gardens, a renewable energy manager, energy conservation, a school horticultural program and bicycle racks.

When the BRIP program was approved April 17, 2012, the Council earmarked $100,000 for assessments and the balance for funds to help underwrite making the changes recommended after the assessments.

A participating company could qualify for up to $10,000 in reimbursement grants, up to $25,000 in a no-interest loan or $25,000 to $50,000 in a low-cost loan.

Giuliani told the Council that some companies, Dunlop Manufacturing in particular, have been able to obtain funding through Pacific Gas and Electric to make their modifications, which has helped BRIP money go even further.

Giuliani said 11 Industrial Park companies have either finished their changes or are about to complete their projects, beginning with All Points Petroleum, the city’s BRIP “pilot.”

He said thanks to the program, greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 136 metric tons, and enough energy has been saved to power more than 20 homes.

Giuliani said another five to seven companies are expected to participate in BRIP this year, after which the city will submit a new program for the Community Sustainability Commission to weigh in on its merits and funding.

Meanwhile, in addition to money that returns to the program through repayment of the no-cost and low-interest loans, Climate Action Plan Coordinator Alex Porteshawver is researching potential grants to keep funding BRIP, he said.