AgdaPkt 2003-06-02 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-7. to- REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager June 2, 2003 Subject Water Conservation — New Commercial High Efficiency Clothes Washer Rebate Program Recommendation By Motion: 1. Authorize the City Manager to sign Memorandum of Understanding, to participate in the regional commercial high - efficiency clothes washer rebate program 2. Authorize funding in the amount of $75,000 for Fiscal Year 2003 -04 3. Set City's rebate amount per machine at $300.00 Background Pursuant to the California Urban Water Management Planning Act, the City of Redwood City is a signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Regarding Urban Water Conservation in California. The MOU includes the implementation of a high efficiency clothes washing machine rebate program for commercial, industrial and institutional accounts (CII), known as "Best Management Practice (BMP) #9 ". At the direction of, and with funding from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), "Energy Solutions ", an independent organization, is managing and implementing a state -wide, commercial clothes washer rebate program ( "LightWash "). The program targets certain multi - family residential and commercial customers who purchase and install qualifying high - efficiency commercial washers. Energy Solutions will provide free centralized program operations, including marketing, rebate application review and processing, payment processing, quality control and site inspection services. CPUC also provides rebate funding in the amount of $150 perwasher. To participate in the program Redwood City needs to agree to provide additional rebate funding to provide a larger total rebate check. Commercial high - efficiency clothes washers cost an average of $400 more than residential machines, for this reason the rebate amount needs to be set higher than for residential machines. The water savings for residential washers average 5,600 gallons per year, for commercial machines the average water savings is 29,930 gallons per year. The LightWash program began last July 2002 and will end December 2003, therefore this is a one time opportunity for Redwood City to take advantage of the free program management services and the additional rebate amount of $150 provided by CPUC. Staff recommends that Redwood City participates in this program by funding a City per- - customer rebate of $300.00, which combined with the CPUC rebate amount of $150.00, will result in a total rebate of $450.00 for commercial washers.