For many municipalities, infrastructure upgrades happen incrementally; one building, one system, one urgent need at a time. While this approach often addresses immediate challenges, it fails to lay the groundwork for long-term success and places additional strain on staff, budgets and existing systems. The City of Lemoore, California, wanted a proactive, comprehensive approach to modernizing its facilities.
Through a $24 million partnership with Energy Systems Group (ESG), Lemoore is implementing a fully integrated, citywide infrastructure modernization program designed to improve performance, strengthen resiliency and deliver measurable financial returns. Rather than tackling projects in isolation, the city evaluated its entire portfolio of buildings and moved forward with multiple upgrades through a single, coordinated strategy.
The result is a program projected to deliver more than $14.8 million in net savings over 20 years, while enhancing essential services for residents across every department.
Moving beyond one-off upgrades
Lemoore faced a familiar set of challenges: aging infrastructure, rising utility costs and increasing demands on city services. Addressing these issues individually requires significant time, coordination and capital, all without guaranteeing long-term alignment across systems.
Instead, Lemoore’s leaders decided to partner with a single provider, Energy Systems Group, to tackle all facilities collectively. This allowed the city to identify opportunities to bundle projects, prioritize needs and align improvements under a single comprehensive plan. It also enabled the city to move faster and ensure that each investment supported operational goals while driving economies of scale and increasing cost savings to the community.
“This project represents a major step forward for Lemoore,” said Mayor Patricia Matthews. “By investing in smart, connected infrastructure today, we are strengthening essential city services, protecting our community from rising energy costs and building a more resilient city for future generations.”
Delivering more through a single, coordinated program
Through this integrated model, Lemoore is implementing upgrades across several platforms, including energy, water, wastewater and building infrastructure, simultaneously.
The comprehensive program includes:
- Renewable energy and resiliency upgrades to support reliable operations
- Energy efficiency improvements across city facilities that reduce energy costs and improve performance
- Electric vehicle charging infrastructure to meet growing community needs
- Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) for water systems to improve visibility and recover lost revenue
- SCADA system upgrades for improved system monitoring and control
- Targeted wastewater infrastructure improvements to strengthen system performance and reliability
Coordinating the design and construction upgrades across systems minimizes disruption to daily operations, allowing city staff to manage a single program rather than multiple independent projects.
Strengthening water and wastewater systems for the future
A key component of Lemoore’s program is the modernization of its water and wastewater infrastructure. Systems that are critical to both public health and long-term community growth.
Upgrades to the city’s treatment facilities will improve efficiency, extend asset life and ensure regulatory compliance. Backup power capabilities will help maintain operations during outages, while treatment enhancements will increase system capacity and improve water quality. The addition of AMI water meters introduces real-time visibility into water usage, enabling faster leak detection, improved billing accuracy and better long-term resource planning.
Together, these improvements position Lemoore to deliver more reliable service while managing costs and conserving resources.
Unlocking savings through scale and strategy
Executing infrastructure improvements at this scale requires more than technical expertise; it requires a clear financial strategy. Lemoore layered multiple funding sources to bring the project to life, with ESG supporting the city in securing $876,000 in additional funding through grants and incentives. By aligning project costs with projected energy and operational savings, the city is able to move forward with needed upgrades today while maintaining long-term budget stability.
Over the life of the program, the city expects to realize more than $14.8 million in net savings, allowing it to address both immediate and long-term community needs while achieving significant cost savings.
A scalable model for modern cities
Lemoore’s approach reflects a broader shift in how municipalities are addressing infrastructure challenges. Cities are increasingly looking at their facilities as interconnected systems that perform best when planned and upgraded together.
It signals an opportunity for cities across America; a citywide modernization addresses infrastructure needs across the board, while delivering operational and financial efficiencies.
Learn more about Energy System Group’s pathways to comprehensive revitalization today.
