World Energy Solutions, Inc. today announced that savings derived from the State of Connecticut’s first electricity auction last fall have resulted in even greater savings since the market run up started several months ago. The Constitution State anticipated over $12 million in annualized savings at the close of its October 2007 electricity auction. Since then, unprecedented spikes in commodities markets have resulted in an additional savings of $6 million.

The World Energy Exchange has aided the State in shielding taxpayers from commodity-price spikes by locking in competitive rates over a fixed timeframe. The additional $6 million saved from last fall’s auction exemplifies how the auction process helps avoid costs otherwise passed on to citizens. The auction platform also allowed the State to purchase green power at little to no premium, garnering Connecticut recognition from the EPA as one of the nation’s top green-power purchasers.

In last fall’s October 2007 auction, various Connecticut government agencies contracted 134,420,000 kWh of renewable power (17% of their total load) through the World Energy Exchange.

n separate auctions conducted on June 11th, 2008, the University of Connecticut’s (UConn) Rentschler Field, home of the Huskies football team, and the State’s Capital City Economic Development Authority’s (CCEDA) conducted successful electricity auctions on the World Energy Exchange. Both used the exchange as part of the State of Connecticut’s five-year contract with World Energy.

The combined annual contract value for the Rentschler Field and CCEDA auctions was $2.6 million, and the winning supplier for both auctions was Suez Energy. Ten percent of the total power purchased for Rentschler Field will be renewable.

The State also successfully completed its first natural gas auction via the World Energy Exchange on May 21st of this year. The annual contract value was $5.8 million for delivery of 1.8 million Dth annually. The winning suppliers were Direct Energy and Santa Buckley, a local gas supplier. The State is planning its fifth procurement event on the World Energy Exchange in the coming months.

Posted: 09|22|08 at 10:00 am. Filed under: US News.