William Penn SD to seek ESCO under Pennsylvania Guaranteed Energy Savings Act to address HVAC; 25 electric buses planned for 2026

At the June 3 William Penn School District property committee meeting, facilities staff outlined a plan to post a request for proposals (RFP) to select an energy-services company under Pennsylvania's Guaranteed Energy Savings Act (GESA) to study and potentially implement HVAC and energy projects across district buildings, and confirmed the district remains on track to implement 25 electric buses in August 2026 with charging concentrated at the Cowen Bus Depot.

The plan matters because the district's spring staff survey showed HVAC was a top concern at secondary campuses: 65% of responding high school campuses listed HVAC as their top concern and 76% listed it among their top two concerns. Staff said a GESA-backed project would allow the district to pursue design and upgrades with no upfront cost, with energy savings used to offset project costs over time.

Darnell Deans, facilities staff, described the next steps: publish an RFP to identify an energy-services company (ESCO) to perform preliminary designs and savings analyses. Deans said the district must bring a motion to the full board to start the RFP process where required by policy. He said ESCOs design projects that rely on projected energy savings to pay for upgrades over the financing term; he gave a working example from the meeting discussion that a project could guarantee $2,000,000 in energy savings over 25 years and that a $1,500,000 project could apply those savings against its cost over time.

Board members asked how a GESA-driven, truncated HVAC upgrade would interact with the district's already-developed full renovation design for the high school. Deans said the ESCO must work with the existing architectural design: the district expects to avoid duplicating major electrical or mechanical infrastructure when the full renovation occurs but will seek an approach that does not “hamstring” possible additional savings or future integration. He said certain complex infrastructure work (for example, separating utility service between the Green Avenue Administration Building and Green Avenue High School and upgrading service capacity) may be deferred from a limited-scope GESA project in order to keep initial costs lower, but staff will try to ensure that components installed now do not need to be re-done later.

On electrical capacity and the bus electrification plan, Deans said the district remains on track for August 2026 implementation of 25 electric buses. He said the design work and site planning for charging equipment are under way and that the district expects to locate charging at the Cowen Bus Depot; the district will request additional power from PECO as needed and plans to coordinate those requests so the utility work is done in a single engagement rather than repeated visits.

Deans emphasized next steps: post the RFP to identify an ESCO, obtain a design and savings estimate, and then return to the board with funding options. He said GESA projects entail an upfront cost borne over the financing term but can produce long-term energy savings that offset capital costs. The committee did not take a formal vote; staff will seek board authorization where required before issuing contracts or committing to financing.