Clean Energy Contract Cuts Delaware's Energy Costs by $13 million

Posted

The state of Delaware has purchased more than 800,000,000 kWh of electricity and renewable energy using the World Energy Exchange. The 36-month contract, starting on July 1, is expected to save the state and its aggregation partners more than $13 million, while helping to meet Delaware's sustainability goals.

The contract was awarded to Washington Gas Energy Services. Twenty-five percent of the contract will come from renewable sources bringing Delaware's total percentage of clean energy to more than 30 percent with contributions from the state-required renewable portfolio standard (RPS).

World Energy worked with Delaware on the purchasing contract, which included developing and running multiple RFPs and conducting a transparent and competitive set of online pricing events. The auctions, conducted April 8, 2010, tested multiple parameters, including term lengths and mixes of green and traditional energy, which yielded the state a high percentage of green power at a low cost.

The state's partners for the energy bid included school districts, volunteer fire companies, New Castle County, Kent County, Sussex County, the University of Delaware, Delaware Technical and Community College, the Delaware Solid Waste Authority and the Riverfront Development Corporation, along with other Delaware cities, towns and municipalities.

Delaware, along with Rhode Island, are ahead of other states in offshore wind turbine installations as well as energy policies, according to a recent report. However, another study indicates that Delaware, together with several other states, are expected to lose renewable electricity jobs unless a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) is passed.

Environment + Energy Leader