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Despite hearing from two skeptics who balked at the possibility that Del Norte Unified School District would be on the hook for $65,000, trustees endorsed a proposal from SitelogIQ to conduct energy audits of DNUSD campuses.
Del Norte Teachers Association President Amber Tiedeken-Cron was one of those skeptics. On Thursday, she pointed to the names of teachers that had been posted on the wall at the district office, asking trustees to keep them in mind when they think about spending money.
“We had put the names of every one of the teachers that received pink slips on the board,” she told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday, “and asked that the School Board keep our students and the names of the staff who have been given preliminary layoff notices at the forefront of every decision they make.”
Trustees shared Tiedeken-Cron’s concern when they first heard SitelogIQ’s pitch right after they approved preliminary pink slips for teachers, librarians and paraprofessionals on March 4. But on Thursday, they agreed to sign a letter of agreement with the national energy efficiency company after DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris said the $65,000 the district may have to pay would come out of funds that can only be used for modernization projects.
“Part of modernization now means that we have to look at green energy,” he said. “We have to look at energy efficiency and we could use some of the recommendations.”
SitelogIQ would only charge DNUSD the $65,000 fee if it came to the Board with an audit that identified energy efficiency projects and trustees decided not to move forward with them. Still, even if that were to happen, Harris said, and the Board of Trustees changes its mind after about a year and decides to move forward with a project, SitelogIQ would credit the $65,000 back to DNUSD.
That $65,000 is money the Office of Public School Construction reimbursed the school district and must be used for modernization projects, Assistant Superintendent of Business Jeff Napier said.
It can’t be used to alleviate potential teacher and classified staff layoffs, Trustee Area 5 representative Michael Greer added. He also pointed out that since Del Norte County voters defeated a bond measure in November, the school district doesn’t have the funds to finance those energy efficiency projects on its own.
SitelogIQ’s pitch to DNUSD came after the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority board signed similar agreements for a microgrid project in the community that would provide electricity during power outages.
Though the company has operated in California for about 25 years, SitelogIQ representative Eddie Jordan said Del Norte’s low energy costs and lack of sunlight kept them focused on other parts of the Golden State.
Now in addition to improved technology and energy prices increasing, Jordan cited a new requirement from the state Office of Public School Construction and the Division of the State Architect requiring energy efficiency to be a factor when constructing new school district facilities.
“In order to get those [modernization] funds from OPSC and the DSA, you have to look at putting solar, battery storage, and EV charging stations on your campuses,” he said. “They’re going to require you to start electrifying all of your HVAC systems and get rid of all that propane, etc. So our goal is to put together a plan or a program as part of this LOA to give you an idea of what this would look like over the next 10 years.”
The audit would focus on the district’s heaviest electricity users, including the district office and Del Norte High School, Jordan’s colleague, Kristy Coughlin said. It would also include the district’s outlying campuses that may be more prone to power outages, she said.
Jordan said once DNUSD approves a project, SitelogIQ would spearhead its design and construction.
“If you decide you want to bid it out to someone else, that’s where we would charge you the $65,000,” he said.
Coughlin said SitelogIQ would also identify project funding, either through low-interest or no-interest loans or potential grant funding. The company would also be responsible for the project’s maintenance, she said.
Del Norte Unified currently has generators at Crescent Elk Middle School, Del Norte High School, ‘O Me-nok Learning Center in Klamath and at the district office. A generator also powers the Smith River School gym, Maintenance Director Josh McCubbin said.
Even before the Board made its decision, McCubbin mentioned two projects that would lead to energy savings. DNUSD replaced about 90 percent of its HVAC systems with electric systems, but Crescent Elk and Joe Hamilton Elementary School rely on two diesel boiler systems for heat, he said.
The district has also converted lighting at about half of its campuses to LED. With most schools housing 30 to 50 classrooms and each containing 12 to 20 light fixtures, McCubbin said finishing that job would take a tremendous amount of effort.
McCubbin also told trustees that he and his staff don’t have the expertise to install solar panels.
“Right now we’re paying $600,000 to $700,000 a year in electricity,” he said. “If we don’t get on the road to potentially offsetting those costs, they’re going to sky rocket at some point.”
Amy Valley, who said she was an educator and whose children go to DNUSD schools, was the second skeptic who spoke to trustees on Thursday. She said she supports using renewable energy to power the district’s buildings, but felt that SitelogIQ was trying to make a lot of money off of an underserved community.
She said she also tried researching the source of Jordan’s statement that in order to obtain modernization dollars, the state will require districts to perform energy efficiency upgrades as well and was unable to find the legislation he spoke of.
“I did identify multiple potential funding sources to help the district pay for energy improvements on our own and see the benefit of energy savings in the budget,” Valley said. “Such as Prop 39, the California Clean Energy Jobs Act, which would provide funding to schools for energy efficiency projects and clean energy generation; the California Schools Healthy Air Funding and Efficiency Program, which offers funding for upgrading HVAC systems and replacing inefficient plumbing fixtures. And other programs like the Bright Schools Program, which provides services to help schools identify costs affecting energy savings opportunities.”
Valley said she had also found that SitelogIQ had received negative reviews from dissatisfied school districts and municipalities who stated they were in underserved rural communities and to whom “SitelogIQ overpromised and underdelivered.”
Del Norte County District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, who brought SitelogIQ to the attention of his colleagues and to the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority, urged the district to approve the LOA.
Howard reminded trustees of the eight-day-long power outage during the Smith River Complex wildfires in August 2023 when Pacific Power had to de-energize the only transmission line serving Del Norte. Since then, he said, he’s been working with Pac Power, Coos-Curry Electric and the Bonneville Power Administration to try to reconnect the power grid serving Del Norte with the one serving Curry County. That endeavor would cost about $87 million, he said basing that figure on a study the three utilities conducted but have yet to release.
SitelogIQ’s microgrid proposal will cost Del Norte County “a lot less,” Howard said, and would provide the necessary resilience to keep the community electrified during an emergency.
Howard also evoked the name of Cal Poly Humboldt professor emeritus Lori Dengler and the Cascadia subduction zone, saying it’s long overdue for generating an “event.”
“If that does occur, this community is going to be isolated,” he said. “What I’m encouraged by and what I saw in August 2023 is that the county, the school district, the city and all of our fire [agencies] worked together. We were not siloed. What this project is considering is that we work together again to protect those essential services.”
