CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Who doesn't love a sustainable lifestyle while also saving money?
A partnership between the City of Cleveland Heights and Illinois-based company, Leopardo Energy, blossomed in the spring of 2023. That relationship is supposedly all about providing a greener tomorrow, both financially and environmentally.
Leopardo Energy President Rob Vollrath described the business as a "turnaround company for local governments."
"We find ways to make local governments more efficient through everything from energy to operational improvement," Vollrath explained.
Leopardo Energy, a company that's been around since 1977, researches city governments across the U.S. — looking for candidates that have aging facilities and are vocal about sustainability. Vollrath said Cleveland Heights fits their vision to a T.
"I think Cleveland Heights was a wonderful example of a community that can benefit from this program, and one of the things that I think was very apparent from the very beginning was that they were willing to look at everything that we had solution wise," Leopardo Energy Partnership Executive Heather Garay added. "Nothing was off the table with them."
Leopardo Energy began revamping city facilities in February.
Over the course of nine months, the business will renovate five city buildings, including City Hall, two fire stations, Cain Park and the service garage.
Garay described those facilities as "at risk."
"These buildings age. They become more costly to maintain and operate," Garay explained.
Cleveland Heights' streetlights will also be replaced with energy-efficient LED fixtures, and Leopardo Energy will implement advanced procurement strategies for goods and services.
"We're replacing roofing, almost all of them, tuck pointing. We're doing some electrical improvements like lighting, HVAC improvements," Vollrath said.
Plumbing, electrical and space upgrades have already begun to the performer's space at Cain Park.
The project will cost the City of Cleveland Heights $17 million, which will be financed through Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing (PACE).
PACE allows the city to pay for energy efficiency projects using a special assessment of its property taxes.
The reduced energy costs are designed to create the savings needed to pay back the loan.
To sweeten the deal, Leopardo Energy said it will bring $33.6 million in guaranteed savings to Cleveland Heights over the next 20 years.
"Not only is this project going to pay for itself, but it's going to create a significant surplus in savings for the city, which is exciting," Vollrath said. "If we fail to deliver those savings, we have to write a check for the difference. In this case, we're guaranteeing $1.9 million a year. If we save $1.8 million, we have to write a check for $100,000. They're getting that no matter what."
Leopardo Energy reports an average of 120% of its forecasted savings guarantees.
In addition to reportedly saving the city money, Leopardo Energy said the project will create nearly 400 union jobs over the course of construction.
"It's important for the community to know the progressive forward thinking nature of the administration here because not every administration is," Vollrath said.
City of Cleveland Heights Mayor Khalil Seren told me he's excited about the opportunity to excel in greener thinking.
Seren said the city received a variety of responses to their Request for Proposal a couple of years back, and Leopardo Energy really stuck out among those.
"It's probably no secret that sometimes doing work with First Energy can be challenging. In this particular instance, the prospect that Leopardo could broker that kind of a deal was extremely exciting to me," Seren noted.
I asked what he hopes to do with the money the project is projected to save the city.
"We're gonna be paying debt service," he said. "Obviously there's more opportunity for us to adjust how we operate, to include more solar, more energy storage, so that we can maximize on the use of solar and other renewable energy sources."
He said he anticipates the city will save more than the dollar amount projected.
"We want to be a resilient government, a resilient city. This is a way that we can do that both financially long term and when it comes to our operations and our buildings and the energy that we use," Seren added.
Cleveland Heights is obligated to begin paying this project's debt in 2026.
"We're pushing full steam ahead," Seren said. "I want to be a success story that can lead other communities to hop on this train as well. I want the people of Cleveland Heights to know that their government is dedicated to the values that we all share: conservation of our natural environment, energy, and financial efficiency."
While Cleveland Heights taxpayers won't necessarily see more money lining their wallets with this project, Seren said residents will be able to maximize what their dollars are paying for.
The project is slated to be finished by November.
A project of this magnitude begs the question of how Leopardo Energy is able to make such a quick turnaround.
"We have a very strong construction management background working within occupied buildings and critical buildings like hospitals, schools, municipal complexes every single day," Garay responded. "We really do pride ourselves on executing on time, on budget, and really getting the people what they need as fast as possible."
We'll continue to follow through as the project progresses.
