County signs annual agreement with ORE

$12,500 given

The Gunnison Board of County Commissioners renewed an agreement with the Office for Resource Efficiency (ORE) at a regular meeting on Tuesday, April 7, to help continue ORE’s efforts at reducing energy use and emissions by individuals, businesses and municipalities.

The one-year agreement pledges cooperation between the county and ORE on initiatives to raise awareness of energy-related issues and implement programs to encourage efficiency and sustainable development.
The agreement includes $12,500 in county funding for ORE’s operational expenses. It also reserves a place on ORE’s board of directors for a county appointee, who is currently commissioner Hap Channell. An almost identical agreement was signed last year.
“The county’s continued cooperation with ORE is one of the reasons we’ve been able to survive,” ORE’s building director Andris Zobs told the commissioners.
One of the goals identified in the agreement is to increase participation in ORE’s Energy Wise Business Program, which certifies businesses that make building upgrades that can reduce energy use. There are currently 16 businesses that have Energy Wise certifications.
Zobs also told the commissioners that ORE was working out the details of a voluntary fund that would give county residents a way to pay for the carbon they emit.
“Although we’re still investigating pricing for the fund, we’ve almost settled on $12 a ton to allow local residents to offset their carbon emissions. That money would go into the fund to help pay for efficiency measures,” he said.  
Commissioner Hap Channell closed the meeting with a request for ORE to bring people and businesses in and around the city of Gunnison into the folds of its programs.
“I’m going to reiterate my concern for an increased presence downvalley and hope that we fight the perception that ORE is a Crested Butte organization,” he said. “You need to have a heightened awareness of that. The things that ORE does downvalley, and everywhere, are really important.”