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Reducing Utility Costs for Nonprofits |
| Written by Amy Fishman, on March 11, 2010 |
Around our region, funding for nonprofits is shrinking. Even small budget cuts are likely to result in a tangible cut in services to the community--fewer day care slots, prenatal visits and emergency shelter beds. Less food at the end of the month to tide over families who rely on foodstamps, reduced clinic hours and a loss of English literacy classes for adults. Dark theaters and closed recreation centers.
And nonprofits are doing everything we can to maintain services, including exploring creative ways to hold down fixed costs.
Rahm Emanuel: You never let a serious crisis go to waste.
You know those calls that come during dinner telling us how to save money on basic household expenses? If we weren’t so wary or ignorant or resistant to change, they tell us, we could save money and do the right thing! It’s as easy as. . .CLICK. Well, did we dodge a scam or miss a great opportunity?
With a nudge from Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner, inspiration from the Latino Economic Development Corporation and a lot of handholding from the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, Nonprofit Montgomery and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County brought together 25 nonprofits and representatives of four alternative energy companies to explore buying electricity as a group in order to save money while going green. Councilmember Berliner pointed to the triple bottom line: electricity at a reduced cost, cleaner and greener energy and mitigated risk of rising energy costs.
What does this mean, “Formal or informal aggregators may be able to procure alternative energy from competitive suppliers at a savings compared to standard offer service.”
Translation: We may be able to reduce our utility bill by 10 – 15% without increasing paperwork if we negotiate as a group with green energy suppliers.
Interested in learning more or joining our group? Contact Amy
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