As it struggles to balance its 2013 budget, the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority is about to embark on a terminal renovation project that has the perfect price tag: free.
Well, sort of.
The authority that runs Lehigh Valley International Airport agreed Tuesday to a deal to have Baltimore-based Constellation Energy install $4.5 million in new lighting, climate controls, power generators and other energy-saving devices.
In return, Constellation will guarantee the airport enough annual energy savings to pay off the loan needed to fund the work.
"The energy savings from this project will at least pay for the cost," said Charles Everett Jr., airport executive director. "We will incur no out-of-pocket costs for this."
LVIA spent the past three years — and $14 million — on renovating its main terminal, which had few improvements since it was built in 1976. While the building went through a radical face-lift, some of the power-sucking mechanical systems remained.
The latest project will take care of much of what wasn't touched before. Nearly $1.2 million will be spent to replace fluorescent lighting with LED lights that are projected to save the airport $93,000 a year.
Another $629,588 will be spent to modernize the heating and air conditioning systems, projected to save the airport about $58,000 a year.
Perhaps the biggest benefit will be $794,000 being spent on new generators designed to provide electricity for the airport during power outages. The current generators, installed in 1976, are outdated and years overdue for replacement, said Brian Sinnwell, director of planning and development.
The new generators will double the power capacity and for the first time allow the airport to enter a program in which it will help local power companies prevent brown-outs. During heavy-use days in summer months, the airport, at the request of its electricity provider, will go to generator power and sell excess electricity back to a strained power grid.
"It's not just about making money on electricity," Sinnwell said. "It's also about replacing outdated equipment with generators that will put us in a much better position during brown-outs."
Other changes include a boiler replacement and new water-conserving fixtures throughout the airport.
In all, LVIA is guaranteed to save $291,409 in energy costs a year, reducing its annual costs to about $900,000, Everett said. The savings from improvements are projected to pay off the entire $4.5 million loan in 15 years. And if there's a shortfall in any year, Constellation must make up the difference, Everett said.
Unlike the previous renovations, most of the changes won't be noticeable to passengers.
Such energy-efficiency deals aren't new. They've been used since the mid-1990s, often by larger municipalities to update their government buildings. Sinnwell said the airport has been considering a move for several years, but never pulled the trigger on a deal until Tuesday.
Late or not, it comes at a good time for the authority, which has had to lay off workers and cut services to balance its $20 million 2013 budget.
If all goes as planned, renovations will begin in May and take about a year.
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