Tonight at the school board meeting in the Bethel Learning Center, a Tacoma Power representative presented a rebate check to the Bethel School District in the amount of $183,736 for their energy efficiencies. The check was received by Michael Knaack, Energy Manager & Educator and Dr. Robert Van Slyke, Exec. Dir. of Operations.

Over the last two years, Bethel School District has applied for and received almost one million dollars in state and federal grant money for energy system upgrades. Along with almost a quarter million dollars in rebates from local utilities, the combined $1.2 million has helped pay for almost 60% of $2.1 million dollars worth of projects district wide.

Projects included entire building lighting retrofits at eight buildings, gym lighting upgrades at seven buildings and installing LED parking lot lights at 21 of Bethel’s campuses.

Partners in this endeavor were:

•  Tacoma Power, with over $180,000 in rebates to the district for equipment and lighting upgrades at 20 buildings.

• Light Doctor, who designed and installed the lighting systems.

• Ameresco-Quantum, who developed and helped manage the project.

Congratulations to the Bethel School District for using efficiency to save education dollars.