Michael Viner, an energy strategist with Energy Price Management Group (PMG) spoke, on Monday, to members of the Cornwall-on-Hudson Board of Trustees about saving money on electricity.
The Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson used two million kilowatt hours of electricity last year and is looking to cut down on the $286,485.21 price tag.
On Monday, the Board of Trustees met with Michael Viner, an energy strategist with Energy Price Management Group (PMG).
The company develops strategies for its clients by looking at trends in the marketplace. It determines the right time to be in the marketplace, based on pricing, and what type of term the client should be looking at.
Viner reported, before the start of the new year, the village provided PMG with copies of its electric bills. Using that information, PMG obtains interval data, data generated every 15 minutes, from the utility company. That data is then used to create a load shape which shows how the municipality uses its energy.
With direct brokering arrangements with all the major energy suppliers, PMG targets suppliers with an appetite for that particular load shape. Those suppliers then enter into an auction and PMG determines which has the best value for the client.
Going through that process for the village, Viner was able to come up with some numbers to present to the board. As of Monday, the market was selling at 7.8 cents per kw hour, compared to the 9 cents the village was paying at the end of January.
Viner said the price was at a two-week high and suggested monitoring the marketplace for two to three weeks to get a better rate.
He recommended the board opt into a fixed rate for a 30-month period because it would help the village budget its electricity costs each year.
Mayor Brendan Coyne said he’d review the information with the rest of the board before making a decision.
Water Superintendent Robert June, meanwhile, has been researching the use of solar power and recently attended a meeting in Maybrook.
The Village of Maybrook has just entered into a contract to provide solar power to all its municipal buildings. Their projected savings is about $1 million over 20 years.
June said putting solar panels on the DPW building would be ideal. He even suggested a covered parking lot at Village Hall to support the panels.
The board will vote Monday to grant the consultant access to its electrical bills and then invite the company to take a look at the village’s facilities prior to making a presentation to the board.