WSU’s energy contracts

You may have seen representatives and employees of interested energy services companies (ESCOs) on Wright State University’s campus lately. ESCO personnel are surveying the Wright State’s current energy usage by cataloguing and taking inventories of electronic equipment, such as heating and cooling systems, computers, printers and copiers over the next couple of months. ESCOs are compiling this information to construct proposals targeted towards addressing WSU’s specific energy. WSU is accepting proposals until this November and intends to finance the project over the course of fifteen years. WSU’s previous ESCO contract with Linc Mechanical expired in 2011 and is expected to save the university a minimum of $1 M each year. The significant financial return expected by WSU’s $11 M investment in Linc Mechanical is what motivated WSU to initiate a second phase of accepting ESCO contracts for reducing utility costs. The second phase is formally known as the Campus Wide Energy Performance Contract. The evaluation committee reviewing the ESCO proposals is comprised of about ten individuals from multiple departments. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is also providing input to the project, in addition to providing a Request for Proposal template for WSU to use to outline the parameters of the proposals they are seeking.  Once WSU has formally accepted a proposal, the final contract terms must be negotiated with the selected ESCO and will be made available for review in 081 Allyn Hall after the contract is finalized.