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Hanover Area School District opens energy-savings bids, tables award pending review
Summary
The Hanover Area School District board opened three bids for a guaranteed energy savings contract and agreed to delay awarding a contract so the board and solicitor can review proposals; the superintendent said the district pays about $600,000 a year for electricity and presented a solar study showing large potential savings at the high school.
HANOVER TWP., Pa. — The Hanover Area School District Board of Education on Jan. 21 opened three proposals for a guaranteed energy savings contract but agreed to table any award while the board and the district solicitor review the packages.
Superintendent Barrett told the board the district is exploring a “solar for schools” grant and cited a district study showing that installing panels on the high school roof could cut the building’s energy costs substantially. "For, just the electricity alone, it's funny that you asked that is, $600,000 annually, just for electricity alone across the 5 districts, 5 buildings in this district," Barrett said, adding the study indicated the high school alone “we could save 87% of the cost to generate energy into this building in the form of electricity, based on putting solar panels on this roof.”
Why it matters: The district’s electricity bills are a recurring expense in the operating budget, and a guaranteed energy savings contract would bind the district to a vendor for implementation and performance guarantees. Board members said they wanted time to review the full bid packages and to have the solicitor examine contract language before taking formal action.
What the board did: The board opened proposals from LaCorte Company, 10 Energy and a third bidder transcribed as "Centimeters 3." One board member said the packages are voluminous and recommended tabling the award so members and legal counsel could review them; the board consented to delay formal action and noted the items would return on a future agenda. No award was approved Jan. 21.
Additional context from the meeting: At the same meeting the superintendent also said the district expects financial benefits from other local property dispositions, remarking that "we'll have, over $3,000,000 coming off the LERDA properties, which is going to help fund us." The board set its next work session and regular meeting for Feb. 11, 2025.
What’s next: The board said it will place any contract award on a future meeting agenda after staff and the solicitor have reviewed the bids.
