ESCANABA — The Escanaba City Council approved continuing its energy optimization plan into 2024 during its regular meeting Thursday, but the decision was not unanimous, as one council member pushed for electric customers to get refunds instead.

“If it’s the citizens’ money, and we’re not seeing a huge usage of it, then give them a kickback. Give them their money back. Give a positive thing back to them,” said Council Member Tyler DuBord.

The city’s energy optimization program allows residents and commercial energy customers to receive rebates from the city if they install certain energy efficient items, ranging from LED lightbulbs and Energy Star rated refrigerators to HVAC systems and electric vehicle chargers.

The program is funded from residuals of a surcharge that was previously collected on electric bills for energy optimization. While the funds still exist and support the program, the surcharge itself was ended because the amount collected far outpaced the rebates given to customers.

In 2023, roughly 20 residents and about a dozen commercial customers participated in the program. In total, commercial energy customers received about $15,000 in rebates and residential customers received around $2,000. The program was approved for $150,000.

“I’m just looking at alleviating the current uptick cost, everything for our citizens. If it’s their money, and it’s the citizens paying the utility bill, and no one’s taking advantage of this program, give it back to them,” said DuBord.

According to City Electric Utility Director Gerald Pirkola, the city must use the funds for either an energy optimization program as intended or give the funds back to residents. However, giving the money back to residents could be difficult.

“To try to calculate how much to give back to each customer, we felt it was better just to continue running a program voluntarily. So these funds are there. … The money was collected, it’s not going to affect rates at all,” said Pirkola.

The program run by the city in 2023 and the program approved Thursday in a 5-1 split vote with DuBord dissenting are both voluntary programs. According to Pirkola, the city will be required to offer an energy optimization program in 2025.

Pirkola also said if the funds were returned to residents, it is likely the surcharge would need to be added back to utility bills in the future to support the program. Currently, the fund has about $260,000 in it.

Multiple board members suggested the program be more streamlined and easier for residents to understand, including Council Member Todd Flath, who said he had previously sought out information about participating in the program.

“It’s confusing, especially for residential customers,” said Flath.

Like the 2023 program, the 2024 program was also approved for $150,000, and very few changes were made to what qualified for rebates. Information about the program is available on the city’s website, www.escanaba.org.

In other business the council

— Held the first of five public hearings on the city’s budget. The only comments made during the hearing were from representatives of the Bonifas Arts Center, who asked for the city to continue including support for the Bonifas and its programming in the upcoming fiscal year budget.

— Heard a presentation on the city’s 2023 audit report from CPA Paul Matz, of the auditing firm Rehmann. The city was given an unmodified opinion by the firm and it was noted that some city funds, like the marina fund and the wastewater fund, have gone from negative balances to strong ending balances in the last two years.

Overall, the city increased its net position by about $7,834,353 over its position in 2022. Of that increase, $156,788 was an increase in unrestricted funds.

— Approved retaining the services of engineering firm C2AE for assistance preparing an application to be submitted to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) for the Technical, Managerial, and Financial – Lead Service Line Replacement grant. If approved, the grant will be used to verify which lines in the city contain lead and will open the city up to other funding options for the ongoing lead line replacement project.

— Approved the hire of Havelka Construction for $22,000 to crush the remainder of the city’s concrete pile.

— Approved the final agreement to transfer funds held by the Michigan Employees Retirement System to the city as part of the city’s plan to manage its own defined benefit pensions. The transfer will wrap up in the next couple of months, with the city taking full control of payments to beneficiaries in March.

— Approved a resolution for the annual permit for work in the state highway right. The resolution is necessary for the city to receive permits from the Michigan Department of Transportation.