The Wasco State Prison is going green. Officials of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced Thursday, their plans to conserve energy and make the prison more environmentally friendly.
The CDCR calls this an answer to the governor's Green Initiative Executive Order. State officials say this project will cost taxpayers nothing and in the long run, it will save $3.2 million a year in power costs.
Changes at the Wasco State Prison are subtle but are said to have a huge impact on California's energy grid on a daily basis. The old lights are replaced with new energy efficient ones. The new bulbs also give off less heat and make the temperature of the dormitories about ten degrees cooler. In turn, this cuts down on the air conditioning usage.
Also, the toilets are hooked up to a new water conservation system that limits inmates to two flushes in five minutes. A third flush automatically locks the toilet and prevents the inmate from flushing for 30 minutes.
"We're trying in the prisons to be smart on crime, well this is an example to be smart fiscally and the environment as well," said Matthew Cate, Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Lighting in housing units stays on 24 hours a day, and power is continuous for the electric fence and guard towers. At Thursday's news conference, four investor owned utilities gave the CDCR a check for $6.5 million to help defray upgrade costs. The rest, officials say, will be paid by state loans from the department of general services.
"Those loans will be paid back with the energy savings and so it won't cost the taxpayers a dollar and in the long run we'll see a significant savings for California's taxpayers," said Cate.
Wasco State Prison is one of six prisons slated to be sites for new solar power farms, which will each produce more than one megawatt of pollution free electricity per year, and it is one of sixteen prisons statewide to go green.
