Blue Shield of California – Radhika Lalit – 2015

Goals

Blue Shield of California (Blue Shield), one of the leading health plans in California, engaged Radhika Lalit, an EDF Climate Corps fellow, to support its overall sustainability and renewable energy strategy. Lalit was tasked with advising Blue Shield on internal and external sustainability targets, while also assessing the business model for a solar power purchase agreement for Blue Shield’s owned facilities in Lodi, Redding and El Dorado Hills in California. In her role, she was also asked to assist with determining the business case and emission reduction potential for specific energy efficiency retrofits and behavior change interventions.

Solutions

After collecting and analyzing energy use data from 13 Blue Shield facilities, Lalit recommended the following sustainability solutions:

1. Baseline and benchmark energy use data monthly by sub-metering facilities and documenting all energy and water use data in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
2. Execute a solar Power Purchase Agreement (3.01 MW DC) at Blue Shield owned facilities at El Dorado Hills, Lodi and Redding.
3. Replace MR16 halogen lights with more efficient LEDs in Blue Shield’s San Francisco headquarters.
4. Implement behavior change interventions in the form of a “Power Down” campaign encouraging employees to reduce their energy consumption.
5. Set a goal to achieve 30 percent renewable energy and 30 percent emissions reductions by 2020, which would be achievable for Blue Shield if it implements the solar PPA.

Potential Impact

Overall, the impact of projects recommended by Lalit could be substantial in driving Blue Shield’s mission of providing affordable and good quality healthcare to all Californians. Her recommendations could help Blue Shield reduce its carbon footprint and also lower its administrative expenses by reducing energy costs. Collectively, these interventions could help Blue Shield save close to $500,000 every year, while reducing its electricity consumption by 4.8 million kilowatt hours and carbon footprint by more than 3,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide in the first year alone. Overall, this would help Blue Shield reduce its emissions footprint by over 43 percent from 2012 levels and increase its use of renewable energy by around 27 percent. Over the lifetime of the proposed projects, Blue Shield could reap benefits of over $7 million in savings by implementing these sustainability interventions.