First Energy has won a whopper $15 million power supply contractwith the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) coveringdeliveries to 843 federal accounts in New Jersey, including theStatue of Liberty and Ellis Island, U.S. landmarks operated by theNational Park Service.

Beginning in mid-November, FirstEnergy Services will providepower to 12 federal agencies and nine non-profit organizations,including: the U.S. Postal Service; the Bureau of Prisons; the U.S.Coast Guard; the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); the JobCorps; the National Park Service; the U.S. Department of Interior;the American Red Cross; and the U.S. Social SecurityAdministration. Over the course of the 18-month agreement,FirstEnergy Services will provide an estimated 372-millionkilowatts of electricity.

“The GSA liked the way we approached the market,” said DouglasElliott, vice president of sales, marketing and energy services forFirstEnergy. “In addition to offering a very competitive price, weoffered the GSA a bid package that helped the government get thebest possible value for the dollars it was spending on energy.”

The GSA said by leveraging the vast purchasing power of 21federal agencies in New Jersey, the agency saved American taxpayers$2.35 million in energy bills over 18 months.

“In this new era of energy deregulation, GSA’s contractingexpertise can help federal agencies easily buy power for theirbuildings – and with Strategic Positioning do so at significantsavings,” said GSA Regional Administrator Rafael Borras.

GSA grouped the government agencies and not-for-profits based ona new concept called strategic positioning, which is designed tolower their utility bills in the deregulated environment bymanaging the energy profile, or load factor, of its facilityinventory. It allows GSA to negotiate for better rates by combininglow load factor buildings with high load facilities, such asfederal prisons, hospitals and laboratories. In New Jersey,strategic positioning will mean a savings of over $2 million totaxpayers, GSA said. This amount is in addition to across-the-boarddiscounts power providers have begun offering companies in order tocompete more effectively under deregulation.

New Jersey is the third area where GSA has aggregated powercontracts. In November 1998, it signed a contract for federalagencies and not-for-profit organizations in Pennsylvania that willsave taxpayers $5.1 million over 12 months. In February 1999, GSAissued an aggregated contract in the New York City area.

Rocco Canonica

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