WORCESTER, Mass., June 26, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- World Energy Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:XWES), a leading energy technology and services firm, today announced it has helped Catholic Health Partners (CHP) secure new electricity, natural gas and demand response contracts for all 19 of its Ohio acute-care hospitals, plus all long-term-care, integrated-care and physician-practice facilities.
Transacted throughout 2013 over World Energy's cloud-based auction platform, the World Energy Exchange®, the new electricity and natural gas contracts commence in 2014 and 2015, and comprise over 750 million kWh of power and 2 million Dth of natural gas. Timed to significant dips in the market, the auctions yielded over $4 million in commodity-price savings, positioning CHP to counter the effects of impending capacity-charge hikes across the State. Dating back to June 2009, when the Ohio electricity markets first became competitive, CHP's total energy-procurement savings with World Energy surpass $15 million.
Building on this success, World Energy recently brokered ~26 MW of demand response for CHP, worth an anticipated $950,000+ to the health system. The new contracts mark CHP's first foray into demand response, supplementing the health system's long-standing adoption of demand-side energy measures through its partnership with American Energy Assets (AEA). Working with AEA, Catholic Health Partners has successfully implemented a number of energy efficiency measures across its hospitals, including lighting retrofits, variable frequency drives, building automation systems and high-efficiency HVAC systems.
Interfacing with each facility's building automation system, AEA collects and analyzes hourly trend data, then works with the hospital's engineering team to reduce energy consumption wherever possible – all while maintaining patient comfort and medical staff satisfaction. In all, these demand-side measures have yielded nearly $3 million in energy cost reductions, with another $800,000 in incremental savings projected over the next 12 months.
"Energy management is a key strategic driver in our company-wide initiative to reduce operational costs," said Calvin Wright, Chief Resource Officer, Catholic Health Partners. "World Energy and American Energy Assets have worked closely with our team, and well together, to proactively identify and execute energy-savings opportunities across our network of hospitals and other care facilities, delivering tens of millions of dollars in bottom-line savings over the last five years."
Added Paul Zoby, CEO, American Energy Assets: "Seventy percent of a hospital's energy use is found in four areas: heating, cooling, air circulation and lighting. These first three are typically connected to a building automation system (BAS), so AEA's program is focused on communicating with a site's BAS, mining the data in order to expose areas for improvement, then implementing these fixes according to a Top 10 list, with the higher savings opportunities tackled first. This approach has produced excellent results to date at Catholic Health Partners, and we are continuing to work together to identify and drive further efficiencies."
Concluded Phil Adams, CEO of World Energy Solutions, "We commend Catholic Health Partners' embrace of both supply- and demand-side strategies to reduce their total cost of energy, and take great pride in the successes we have achieved together. Through diligence, accountability and a strong sense of partnership, we have successfully grown this relationship from procuring natural gas for a single hospital to sourcing energy for Catholic Health Partner's entire health network in Ohio, encompassing natural gas, electricity, and demand response."
About Catholic Health Partners
Catholic Health Partners (CHP) is the largest health system in Ohio and one of the largest health systems in the United States, employing more than 31,000 employees in Ohio and Kentucky. With $6 billion in assets, CHP operates more than 250 health facilities, including 23 hospitals, eight senior living communities, five hospice programs and eight home health agencies. Truven Health Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters) consistently rates CHP among the nation's top health systems for clinical quality and efficiency. In keeping with its mission, CHP provided $374.7 million in community benefit services in 2013. CHP's bonds are rated AA- by Standard & Poor's and Fitch, and A1 by Moody's. CHP also partners with HealthSpan which provides health maintenance organization and insurance coverage. CHP is a founding member of Health Innovations Ohio which focuses on providing health services that result in higher quality, better health and greater value. For more information, visit www.health-partners.org.
About American Energy Assets
American Energy Assets (AEA) is a closely held energy conservation company based in Denver, Colorado that primarily serves private, not-for profit, acute care hospitals and their affiliated properties. We currently serve more than 75 hospitals in 26 states in all segments of the country. Our healthcare customers face seemingly never-ending needs for cost savings, and AEA's energy efficiency programs offer attractive returns from Non-Labor savings initiatives without a need for invested capital. Our OnTrack program is designed to use a hospital's existing infrastructure to maximize its efficiency and achieve operating savings through energy conservation with simultaneous improvement in patient satisfaction and staff comfort. Learn more at www.americanenergyassets.com.
About World Energy Solutions, Inc.
World Energy Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:XWES) is an energy technology and services firm transforming energy procurement and energy efficiency for commercial, industrial, institutional, government and utility customers. The Company's award-winning, cloud-based auction platform, the World Energy Exchange®, its team of energy experts, and a network of more than 500 suppliers and 300 channel partners form an ecosystem that enables customers to minimize their total cost of energy. To date, World Energy has transacted over $45 billion in energy, demand response and environmental commodities, creating more than $3 billion in value for its customers. For more information, please visit www.worldenergy.com.
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