In the past year, MPO has completed four major electricity price offers for members, one in Northern Maine and three in the Central Maine Power and Bangor Hydro regions. All offerings brought electricity supply savings and budget protection to members through fixed priced contracts with below Standard Offer prices. Green power source supply options were offered through the program for the first time and Maine PowerOptions negotiated the first non-residential green supply contract in the State, with York Hospital.  The University of Maine, Colby College, Unity College and the Old Orchard Beach School Department have all contracted for Green Power with Constellation NewEnergy through the MPO Program, securing the lowest green power supply price available in the State of Maine.

In early 2004, MPO in conjunction with WPS Energy Services completed a savings opportunity for members in Northern Maine.  Participation doubled in the recent offer, with over 600 accounts contracted! Through member referrals many new members participated for the first time. WPS is a leader in energy services nationwide and has partnered with Maine PowerOptions for four years, bringing reduced electricity supply costs and excellent service to members. WPS Energy Services is currently the Standard Offer provider in most of northern Maine.

Constellation NewEnergy, a leader in the retail energy market and supplier for MPO members in the CMP and BHE areas, is committed to providing eligible members with their lowest electricity supply prices. MPO for the first time elected to offer a 36-month price when  available prices dropped to the 5-cent per kWh range.  Many members took advantage of the market low to lock in fixed prices for the extended period.  NewEnergy has partnered with MPO since 2000 working in support of members and the Program through it’s strong purchasing power and pricing innovations.

To further benefit members, in-house staff has developed an innovative user-friendly software program to make the Fuel Program bidding process faster and more efficient.  The creation of the MPO bid software allowed staff to respond to the tightened time requirements of a volatile energy market by eliminating the need for manual manipulation and evaluation of bids.  In a typical Fuel Program RFP response MPO receives 1,200 bids, which are evaluated by MPO.  The analysis is then provided to members with commitments returned to MPO and in turn to suppliers, all within a 7-hour period.

Suppliers who choose to use the software simply enter their pricing information into the software and submit a bid report to MPO as an e-mail attachment. Suppliers are able to use the software to streamline their bidding efforts by custom selecting members by name, city, county, or fuel type.  The streamlined electronic process allows suppliers to prepare bids closer to the submission deadline, minimizing their market exposure.  Members benefit from the shortened bid handling process by gaining additional time to evaluate bids and return commitments. 

For more information concerning the RFP process and software please contact Maine PowerOptions at (207) 621-0744 or toll free (877) 852-3332.