When Cathy Woolard was elected as Atlanta’s City Council President, she was determined to make Atlanta a model of environmental sustainability in the Southeast. Her pledge to “create an efficient, vibrant and sustainable city” is being realized through the Energy Conservation Program that she initiated in August 2002.
Working within an extremely tight budget, Cathy Woolard was determined to find no-cost ways to save energy throughout the city. Her research led her to a well-known local expert on energy conservation, Southface Energy Institute. Within no time at all, the Atlanta Regional Office of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) had joined the team, creating a partnership of federal, state, local and non-profit organizations that has become a model for the nation.
The group conducted a full day workshop to determine how Atlanta could create a sustainable energy policy. From the ideas, Council President Woolard selected those that could be implemented at no cost to the City. Through a grant from GEFA, the City was able to hire two expert consultants and a research fellow to conduct a rate analysis on over 600 electricity accounts, perform energy audits on two major City office buildings and develop an employee energy conservation program. Within one year, the City had projected savings of nearly $500,000 from these initiatives! The energy savings at City Hall alone were equivalent to taking 300 cars off the road each year. Learn more about the First Year Savings.
Read the Energy Conservation Program Annual Report 2003 to learn more about savings and accomplishments during the first full year of the program.