Modern Electric’S Building A Model Of Efficiency

Modern Electric Water Company has been powering the Valley for 95 years, but its new building proves the company is anything but old-fashioned.

“This building is an icon of energy efficiency,” said Bonneville Power Administration’s CEO Judi Johansen, the keynote speaker at a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Friday.

The new building on Pines Street surpasses Washington’s already tough standards for energy conservation. Its rounded facade, high windows and efficient light fixtures mean the building uses 20 percent less wattage per square foot than the state’s limit.

“We’re used to overpowering buildings,” said James Choate-Deeds of Bernardo Wills Architects, the building’s designer. “Well, you can get all the sunlight you need for free.”

But lower electricity bills aren’t the only reason Modern Electric built an energy efficient building. “We want to practice what we preach about using energy wisely,” said Mike Baker, Modern Electric’s general manager.

Energy conservation is especially important this summer, he added, since a heat wave in California has led to power shortages across the Northwest.

And Friday’s ceremony touched on other issues facing Northwest power companies, particularly the pressure caused by energy deregulation, fish recovery and skyrocketing prices. Both Baker and Johansen painted a bright future for the public utilities despite the threat of privatization brought by deregulation. “There are many groups who would like to sell Bonneville,” Baker said. Bonneville is the federal power company that sells wholesale power to Modern Electric. “I really think Judi (Johansen) is doing a great job of preventing this from happening.” Modern has contracted with Bonneville to buy power until 2011.

Johansen returned Baker’s compliment by commending Modern Electric for its tradition of fiscal responsibility. The company paid for the new $2 million building without borrowing any money.

“For the century of existence of this utility it has always been debt free,” she said. “That is something that will help maintain its autonomy and maintain consumers’ choice in how they have their electric and water needs served.”

Modern Electric serves about 10,000 customers in the Opportunity area of the Spokane Valley. The company was founded by a local farmer in 1905 after he dug the region’s first irrigation pump and strung a mile of electric lines to power it.

Then, he and three business partners bought 3,000 acres of land around the well. As they sold the land they sold shares in the water and power company along with it, so that today Modern Electric is owned by the landowners it serves. Five board members oversee its operations. “We’ve never built anything like it,” said Gregg Morin, president of S.G. Morin and Son, the project’s contractor. “It really sets a standard for energy efficiency.” No detail was ignored. Office lights are connected to motion sensors so they turn off automatically.

All the fixtures are covered with screens to force light toward the ceiling, where it is reflected and diffused throughout the room. There are sun screens above all the windows to prevent direct sun from warming the office.

Architects beefed up the building’s insulation with better windows and higher quality materials.

They even used industrial strength adhesive rather than screws to attach insulation to the dry wall - since the 4,000 screws would have conducted heat into the building.

“Some of our guys were scratching their heads over that one,” said Morin “But the architect showed me the calculations, and it really did make a difference.”