Energized by Contest, Official Has Saved School $111,500 in Utility Bills

Michael J. Hash cut the utility bill last year by $58,000. The year before, Hash saved $53,500.

Not for himself, but for the Los Angeles Unified School District. And so for the second consecutive year, Hash earned first place for his school in the district’s annual energy-saving contest.

The Canoga Park High School plant manager said he saved the money by following the same common-sense practice he follows at home: “I make sure everything is turned off when it’s not being used.”

Under the district’s 4-year-old energy conservation program, schools are asked to cut use of water, electricity and natural gas by at least 10% from the amounts used in the 1984-85 school year. As a reward, schools keep 25% of the savings to spend on new science equipment or for landscaping.

The conservation program has earned recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission, school district officials said.

In addition to saving money for the financially strapped district, the contest is educational. Teachers and students are supposed to turn off lights when they leave rooms and study reasons for energy conservation as part of science and social studies classes.

“By the time our elementary school students are adults, they will be conscious of the need to recycle and conserve,” said Alan Tomiyama, director of the district’s operations branch.

This week district officials awarded $354,000 to 176 schools, ranging from $100 to $14,537 for Canoga Park High School. The top junior high school award went to San Fernando Junior High School, which received $8,487.

Districtwide, schools saved about $1.4 million from an annual utility bill of about $35 million, officials said. The school district is among the five largest customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, DWP spokesman Walter Zeisl said.

“It’s essential that our customers have a basic understanding of the conservation ethic, to use resources wisely,” Zeisl said.

Hash said he and his 10-member crew keep track of air conditioning and ventilation systems, as well as lighting and water use at the Canoga Park campus, making sure machines are shut off for holidays, weekends and after school.

“Sometimes I think maybe I spend a little too much time trying to conserve,” Hash said. “But I figure I saved my salary last year and maybe a bit more.”