PA Department of General Services to Update Energy Efficiency Improvement Project Contract Guidelines

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of General Services is revising its policies governing how energy efficiency improvement projects are contracted by state government. The public may comment on the proposed changes through Jan. 15, 2012.

Under the Guaranteed Energy-Savings Act, or GESA, the state pursues projects to improve the overall efficiency of a building, with no up-front capital expenditures. The energy and cost-savings achieved by the project are to be used to finance the costs of the work, making the project essentially budget-neutral.

"After a thorough evaluation of the GESA program, we found some concerns with projects delivering the cost-savings that were promised," DGS Secretary Sheri Phillips said. "We are now implementing a process to ensure taxpayer resources are invested in opportunities that are as sound economically as they are environmentally."  

"The revised proposal process conforms to Governor Corbett's directive for DGS's prioritization of fiscal efficiency and transparency in awarding projects to reduce energy consumption at state facilities," Phillips noted.

"Innovation should not mean increased costs when it comes to our energy consumption reduction projects. We must be reliable stewards of public funds and use them in the most efficient way," she added.

Among the highlighted changes proposed in the new documents will be:

• Each project will be open for bidding to all contractors based upon an established scope of work with predefined energy conservation measures and no pre-qualification.
• DGS will have an energy engineer assist in identifying potential GESA opportunities and perform internal investment grade audits to ensure the state's best interests are represented while projects are still in the internal stages of development.
• The DGS GESA website will be used to announce and track GESA projects with proper announcements, updates and posted results.

The new documents are available online at: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/construction_and_public_works/1235/guaranteed_energy_savings/1042409.

Please submit written comments by Jan. 15, 2012 by email to loreilly@pa.gov or by postal mail to 100 Tent Building, 18th & Herr Streets, Harrisburg, PA 17125.  If emailing, please type "GESA Comments" in the subject line of the message.

Media contact: Troy Thompson , 717-787-3197

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of General Services

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