Nolin RECC Honored for Community Service
03/28/2007

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) presented its National Community Service Award to Nolin Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. in recognition of the co-op's service to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Working in partnership with Fort Knox and Trane Co., Nolin RECC has helped set a gold standard for energy efficiency and cutting power consumption at federal facilities.

In an effort to help Fort Knox realize significant energy use reductions, Nolin RECC developed the largest and most comprehensive energy efficiency program among electric cooperatives. Nolin Rural Electric and Fort Knox, later joined by Trane Co., have implemented 74 energy conservation projects to lower energy usage by 43 percent over 10 years.

Said NRECA CEO Glenn English, "The ambitious scope of these conservation efforts put Nolin Rural Electric at the forefront of the industry. As co-ops confront the twin challenges of meeting increased demand and likely new regulations on emissions, Nolin RECC has illuminated a key piece of the solution: maximizing efficiency."

In 1992, a federal directive required all federal facilities to cut energy spending 35 percent by 2010. A military facility since 1918 and home to a U.S. Treasury Bullion Depository since 1936, the base‚s outdated infrastructure was straining to meet the power needs of the 23,000 employees and residents and more than 3,000 buildings. Cutting energy spending by over a third without additional funding seemed an impossible task, putting the base at risk for closure and the community at risk to lose thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in economic activity.

In 1996, Nolin Rural Electric stepped in to begin working with Fort Knox under the electric cooperative's Utility Energy Service Contracts (USEC) program. Nolin Rural Electric and its lenders created a line of credit for Fort Knox to purchase expensive equipment and implement conservation and efficiency projects. The debt service would be retired with energy savings.

Because Nolin Rural Electric is a member-owned cooperative, the goal of the projects was to help members manage energy consumption rather than to increase revenues.

Under the USEC program, a total of $83 million - the largest loan for energy conservation ever given by the Cooperative Finance Corporation - has been spent on projects costing between $6,500 and $29 million, including the following:

• Installation of the world's largest geothermal system
• Installation of infrared heat and solar-based projects
• Replacement of lighting, windows, insulation, boilers, traffic signals, capcitor banks and peak-shaving generators

Said Gary Meredith, Fort Knox Energy Program Manager, "Nolin RECC helped us turn an unfunded problem into an annual energy savings of $9.1 million. We were fortunate to find Nolin RECC and Trane."

When the Fort Knox efficiency initiative started, it was viewed only as a means of lowering energy usage. Today the program has expanded to include developing environmentally-safe, sustainable systems that improve quality of life for soldiers and government workers on the base.

Nolin RECC received the award at NRECA's March 20-22 annual meeting.

Kentucky Association of Electric Cooperatives, Inc. 4515 Bishop Lane * Louisville, KY  40218 502-451-2430 * FAX: 502-459-3209 Terms of Use