ISD Earns $46,596 Energy Incentive from PSE Through Efficiency Upgrades

The Issaquah School District has earned an incentive check for $46,596 from Puget Sound Energy (PSE) for districtwide improvements that reduced both electric and natural gas use. These upgrades are part of an ongoing effort to use resources wisely, lower utility costs, and reinvest savings where they matter most, in classrooms.

Over the past two years, ISD has received $115,527 in energy-efficiency incentives and has avoided more than $468,000 in utility costs, thanks to the work of our Facility Services team and partnerships with PSE.

Recent projects include replacing older metal-halide parking lot lights with high-efficiency LEDs at Beaver Lake Middle School, Briarwood Elementary, Discovery Elementary, Grand Ridge Elementary, and Pacific Cascade Middle School. The district also replaced outdated, inefficient gas-fired water heaters at Discovery and Grand Ridge with new high-efficiency gas units after the old heaters were found to be wasting natural gas.

Additional improvements contributed to savings across several schools, including HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) upgrades, boiler replacements, air-handling unit updates, chiller repairs, and more precise scheduling of heating and cooling systems during holidays and after-hours events.

“These energy-saving steps not only reduce costs, they also help us operate our schools more efficiently and sustainably,” said Julius Carter, director of facility services.

The district will continue working with PSE to identify future opportunities to save energy, lower operational costs, and support long-term sustainability across all schools.