Light changes and new light bulbs for PUSD
Monache and PHS set to save energy
With construction of new classroom wigs at both Monache and Porterville high schools underway, a slew of small changes will be implemented to the buildings to conserve energy.
During the Porterville Unified School District (PUSD) meeting Thursday afternoon, trustees agreed to an energy agreement with Alameda Electrical Distributors to use more energy efficient light fixtures in the new classrooms. The move would save the district money and energy.
Nate Nelson, who is the assistant superintendent of Business Services for the district, said PUSD was able to negotiate pricing with distributors and at a significantly less cost than what the contractors were using for those projects.
“In the end, significant changes will be attached if we remove that lighting scope and products from our lease back agreements with the Wild Electric from Monache High School and AC Electric for Porterville High School, and in doing that, essentially the cost associated with those products in these lease back contracts is $295,000 in change,” said Nelson.
The district secured the same products for $178,905 and in the end saved approximately $116,000 by working directly with the distributor.
The contractors will still be installing these light bulb fixtures in both the new school buildings at PHS and MHS, but the district would instead purchase those directly from Alameda Electrical Distributors.
PUSD Facilities Director Owen Fish, who is in charge of overseeing much of the district’s construction projects, said a lot of what is being replaced was item for item designed into the project, but it simply came down to being able to secure them at a much lower price than the contractors.
“We purchased a lot of LED over the last year or year and a half and when I saw the pricing come in with what the subcontractors were submitting, I knew the price points that we had available were much lower than what they were able to secure on that,” said Fish. “So I went through the process of twisting their arm into removing the product and letting us provide it and then realized all the money we would be saving.”
Construction for both Monache and PHS is expected to be completed in late December or early January if all goes as planned. Twostory classrooms wings are being constructed. Each will have 13 classrooms. Eventually, Monache will get a second wing.