With hopes of bringing down electricity bills at county facilities, the Walker County Commissioners Court approved the purchase and installation of Entergy’s DataLink system for the Walker County Storm Shelter during a special session on Wednesday morning.

Stan Foley, Huntsville customer service manager for Entergy, provided the court with an informational presentation about the DataLink service and answered questions from the commissioners about the potential benefits of implementing the service.

“With this service, you can capture data and it is available to anyone to look at the information in graphic form,” Foley said. “You can look at consumption at a specific sight and it can be measured once a day or every hour, depending on the application.”

With energy-saving devices already installed on the air conditioning units at several county facilities, Walker County purchasing agent Linda McKenzie recomended installing the DataLink service on the shelter first to determine its effectiveness and usefulness.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Robert Autery agreed, saying he’d like to see more results before placing the meters on other county buildings.

“Let’s start small and see how it works and then increase,” Autery said.

According to Foley, the cost of installation is $300 per meter with a $39 monthly fee for daily reports or a $100 monthly fee for hourly reports.

In their approval of the service, the court elected to receive daily reports from Entergy on the usage at the storm shelter in order to monitor the best way to save money on electric bills.

“You’re trying to implement engery management and right now, all you have is a bill,” Foley said. “Does changing the thermostate at a facility really make a difference?

“This will allow you to manage that. This data will be continually available for you to analyze and look at.”

In other action on Wednesday, the court:

• Approved accepting donation from the City of New Waverly in the amount of $500 to Walker County EMS.

• Approved monthly report for August 2009.

• Approved bill paying.

• Approved claims and invoices submitted for payment in the amount of $137,636.50.

• Approved Certificate of Substantial Completion for the Walker County H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum of Texas.

• Approved Contract for Services for David Warner to install equipment on County vehicles.

• Approved Order 2009-25 approving the Operating and Capital Improvements Budget for the Fiscal Year Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010.

• Approved Ratifying Letter of Support to the City of Huntsville for Highway 19 TIGER Grant.