City officials told the City Council on Nov. 10 that recent and ongoing energy-efficiency programs are producing measurable savings and new revenue streams for West Haven.

Ricky Spryer, the mayor’s chief of staff, and Ray Collins of the Energy Commission described participation in United Illuminating (UI) and Southern Connecticut Gas programs, including an "energy conscious blueprint" (UI) review that staff said produced about $40,000 in expected rebate for the Oyster River pump station and a roughly $100,000 UI rebate for work at Washington School. The city is also pursuing LED retrofits financed through utility programs: Spryer said those retrofits carry an average financing charge of about $7,000 per month against estimated savings of about $7,500 per month, with typical payback around 3.5 years and larger net savings thereafter.

Spryer told the council West Haven has partnered as a sponsoring "distressed municipality" for 14 solar arrays (eight inside the city and six in other municipalities). Staff presented an estimate of approximately $250,000 in direct annual lease/revenue payments to the city and roughly $290,000 in annual bill credits, for an estimated combined benefit of about $540,000 a year; contracts were described as 20-year terms with the last currently scheduled to expire in 2047.

Officials also described a recently awarded $115,000 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant to retrofit the Malloy Community Center HVAC system and said the city has installed 10 electric-vehicle charging stations at City Hall and is integrating GPS telematics across the municipal fleet to reduce idling and fuel use.

Council members asked for follow-up detail on year-over-year savings from window projects and on program eligibility for residents and small businesses; staff directed residents to EnergizeCT and to the energy commission for outreach programs.

The mayor and council framed the initiatives as both cost-saving and climate-friendly, and encouraged broader public outreach to help residents and small businesses take advantage of available incentives.