City recognized for sustainability efforts

In a competition with cities across the country, Oberlin was recognized for efforts in energy consumption.

In a competition with cities across the country, Oberlin was recognized for their efforts in energy consumption.

According to a news release, Oberlin came in seventh place in this year’s Georgetown University Energy Prize.

The prize seeks to change municipalities’ thinking on energy use and to harness ingenuity and community spirit in small cities.

It is a two-year nationwide contest involving 50 communities, the release said.

The judges for the competition, taken both from academia and industry, evaluated each community’s energy efficiency programs, according to the release.

The 10 finalists then were scored in weighted categories: innovation; potential for replication; likely future performance; equitable access; community and stakeholder engagement; education; and overall quality and success.

Winners were chosen based on their scores and the programs they created and advanced over the two years, the release said.

“Community-based initiatives are rising to the forefront of our national conversation about sustainability,” said Uwe Brandes, executive director of the prize in the release. “The communities that have participated in this competition have invented and implemented new approaches to reduce energy consumption and on that journey they have saved money and provided new leadership models for other communities to act.”

Fargo, N.D., reigned supreme in the contest, but the release singled out Oberlin for saving over 26 billion British thermal units, or BTUs, of energy and cutting the carbon emissions by 1,701 metric tons.

Oberlin City Manager Rob Hillard expressed his congratulations to the winning city and his pride at how Oberlin did in an email to The Morning Journal.

“Congratulations to Fargo for their efforts in making a positive difference in environmental sustainability,” Hillard wrote. “Oberlin did place in the top 10 and we are very appreciative of this acknowledgement. Georgetown specifically noted Oberlin’s achievements in the efforts working with POWER (Providing Oberlin with Efficiency Responsibly).”

“The city of Oberlin and Oberlin College have been on the vanguard of community energy initiatives for some time,” Brandes said. “During the competition, Oberlin advanced new innovations which tied energy efficiency to quality of life improvements for community residents.

“The creation of POWER (Providing Oberlin with Efficiency Responsibly) successfully engaged the city’s low-income and elderly residents.”

Hillard said, “Congratulations to POWER for their work to make a positive difference as well. I believe the community of Oberlin should be very pleased with the leadership role it continues to take in environmental sustainability.”