This post is an excerpt from the DCSEU FY 2019 Annual Report written by Ted Trabue, Managing Director of the DCSEU and Shawn Fenstermacher, General Manager of the DCSEU.
Shortly after the DCSEU’s 2019 fiscal year began, the Council of the District of Columbia adopted some of the most ambitious and aggressive energy and environmental targets in the country. With the passage of the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018, the District has positioned itself as a sustainability role model in the United States. As a critical player in helping the District achieve these targets, we believe the DCSEU has set the standard for demonstrating the role energy efficiency and renewable energy can play, not only in reducing energy use, but in significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating a positive and lasting impact in the community.
Since 2011, we have helped District residents, businesses, and institutions achieve nearly $1 billion in lifetime energy cost savings. We have created green career opportunities for hundreds of District residents, including 20 this year through our Workforce Development Program, and invested more than $35 million with Certified Business Enterprises (CBEs) so that businesses here in DC have new opportunities to succeed in the green economy. We have invested more than $39 million in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in low-income communities, increasing the comfort of thousands of families and allowing those families to put the dollars they save on their energy bills where it matters most to them. All this work has culminated in preventing more than 6.2 million tons in lifetime greenhouse gas emissions. This is what environmental and economic sustainability look like.
The theme of our FY 2019 report is “Sustainability is Our Superpower,” highlighting the most important asset at the DCSEU: our staff. Without our staff, we lose the innovation, ingenuity, and drive to create the best possible programs and services for our customers and make the biggest impact for DC. Thanks to our staff, our strong performance leading up to and during FY 2019 puts the DCSEU in a strong position to meet or exceed its challenging energy savings benchmarks by the end of our five-year contract and puts the District on the path to achieve the bold targets it has set for 2032. We look forward to keeping the District at the forefront of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Read more about the DCSEU's 2019 results in the DCSEU FY2019 Annual Report.*
*Results pending verification by a third-party evaluation firm hired by the District Department of Energy and Environment.