David Brown stands by the inverter, a metering device outside World Karate.

By Linda Byrne
Editor

World Karate has been in the Leon Springs area for seven years, but students recently started practicing their art in a futuristic green building that also hearkens the past.

Recycled wood from old teakwood oxcarts from Thailand has been used for seating, along with old barn wood from Arkansas. Douglas fir and pine, both renewable resources, were used on the ceiling and beams.

Solar panels on the roof collect energy that powers the building. Depending on the conditions, the panels provide 30 percent to 80 percent of the energy World Karate needs most days.

An inverter mounted on the north wall performs an exchange, either sending or receiving energy.

It was against this backdrop that Ramon Gonzales, communications analyst for CPS Energy, addressed members of the Leon Springs Business Association on March 13.

Gonzales said the city of San Antonio purchased CPS Energy in 1942 and the utility began an aggressive fuels diversification program in the 1970s.

Three coal-fired generating units at Calaveras Lake on San Antonio’s South Side, as well as nuclear power from the Bay City plant, have enabled CPS Energy to stabilize electricity costs in the area.

“This has saved customers millions of dollars in fuel costs,” Gonzales said.

“But in 2016 we are projected to need a lot more energy. The demand right now is growing 3 percent annually.”

The entrance to World Karate, 24201 Boerne Stage Road. Photos by Linda Byrne

“We are already doing more than state and federal regulators require,” he said.

Officials say they have a multi-pronged approach, including:

- Reducing energy demands through efficiency

- Reducing peak demand

- Reducing emissions

One way these goals will be met is through customer incentives and rebates, such as were given to its first rebate customer, World Karate, which received a rebate of $11,500.

“I didn’t even know about the rebate,” said owner David Brown. “I just feel you should put actions where your words are. A metal building would have been $200,000 cheaper.”

It took Brown a year to find his solar contractor, Texas Solar Power Co. The building was designed by Walter Wong of Fair Oaks Ranch.

CPS Energy’s Matt Haecker said the utility continues to add wind-generated power resources, with the latest units being installed in South Texas. Research and development is ongoing to store wind-generated power, which currently goes directly to the electrical grid. Haecker said experts are studying ways compressed air could be stored in caves and salt domes for retrieval later.