LIMA — A $29 million private investment will reduce energy usage at Joint Systems Manufacturing Center by an estimated 42 percent, an official with the JSMC announced Monday.
Lt. Col. Matthew Hodge, commander of the JSMC, said an energy savings performance contract through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allows for energy companies to privately invest in government facilities to renew energy infrastructure and provide more energy efficient equipment. The company investing in the JSMC is Siemens Government Technologies.
Hodge said the $29 million investment will be paid back through energy savings the JSMC will see during the next 16 years.
“The best part of the program is it’s money the government does not have to put forward,” Hodge said. “They pay themselves back over time with the energy savings, and they bring us new equipment.”
Much of the $29 million investment will be put toward new equipment. Hodge said the JSMC will replace its coal-fired heating boilers with natural gas, and install new, energy efficient lighting systems.
The JSMC will save an estimate $1.77 million in energy costs per year, which will be paid back to Siemens for their investment.
Hodge said he looks at the situation as a win-win because the JSMC is not putting forth any new money, yet they will receive new equipment and save on energy costs after the contract with Siemens is up.
Construction and installation of the new equipment will begin in summer 2017.
