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Fort Worth committee reviews energy strategy and DOE-funded streetlight retrofit
Summary
City staff told the Property Management and Environmental Services Committee that an EECBG-funded strategy document, a 1,650-streetlight LED retrofit and a resident outreach campaign aim to cut energy use across city facilities, with TPW projecting about $1.2 million in annual savings once retrofits are complete.
On Jan. 13 the Property Management and Environmental Services Committee heard a briefing from Jordan Balusic, environmental supervisor in the Environmental Services Department, on the city's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) work and the department's draft energy strategies for city facilities, systems and fleet.
Balusic said the EECBG award, granted by the U.S. Department of Energy in fiscal 2024, has three components: a strategies document being developed with contractor Ameresco; a grant-funded retrofit of 1,650 streetlights in partnership with Transportation and Public Works (TPW); and public education and outreach, including a postcard mailing and a new energy and sustainability website.
The strategies document, Balusic said, inventories city assets and lays out cost-saving approaches for renovations, retrofits and new-construction standards for buildings, street-lighting, HVAC systems and fleet vehicles. "We are developing a framework for cost savings for the city," he said, adding the document is intended as a guidebook departments can use as budget opportunities arise.
On the retrofit, Balusic said TPW is installing LED fixtures with smart-node technology. He provided citywide context: "There's currently 71,000 streetlights across the city. They have already retrofitted over 40,000 of them," and the EECBG funds are directed at roughly 1,650 of the remaining fixtures. He said the retrofit extends fixture life from about 10 years to 15 years and that TPW projects an annual energy-cost savings of approximately $1,200,000 when the work is complete. "That is my favorite part," Balusic added.
Balusic attributed the $1.2 million figure to TPW's Encore audit and said the savings are a projection that will be tracked once the Encore audit is finalized. Committee member Val asked when the Ameresco strategies report will be completed; Balusic said the department expects to wrap the document up in February and that the TPW work funded by the grant should be complete by 2026.
On outreach, Balusic said staff mailed a postcard to 143,000 residents (about 55% of residential parcels) and launched the energy and sustainability website in November 2025. The postcard and site highlight how residents can save energy and water, link to existing city programs (for example, neighborhood services and water-department programs) and point to local, state and federal rebates and credits. He said the mailing targeted areas based on high energy burdens, income levels and high energy use.
Balusic thanked partner agencies including TPW, property management, Neighborhood Services, the water department, Facilities Management Services (FMS) and Fort Worth Lab and said staff will share the final strategies and grant results with department heads and continue seeking additional grant funding.
The committee did not take a formal vote on the presentation. The chair closed the discussion after members asked for follow-up on timelines and savings tracking.
