MONROE, La. - Mayor Jamie Mayo and the Monroe City Council have announced that the city of Monroe will save more than $2.7 million in energy costs under an energy performance contract with Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., Buffalo Grove, Ill.

The first phase of the project, which began in December 2003, consisted of heating-cooling system upgrades and lighting retrofits to city-owned buildings, and the installation of a Siemens Apogee® energy management system to monitor and control energy usage. The project also includes changing the lamps in the city's traffic light system to more energy-efficient LED lamps.

The entire project is scheduled for completion in November 2004. The upgrades will cost $2.7 million; the performance contract allows the city to pay for the costs of the installations, upgrades, and retrofits over a 17-year period using energy savings achieved from increased energy efficiency. Siemens is designing, engineering, and managing the entire project, including training for the building staff to operate and maintain the new equipment and systems.