NEW YORK and WORCESTER, Mass., April 30, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- World Energy Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:XWES), a leading energy management services firm, today announced it has helped the U.S. General Services Administration, Region 2, successfully procure over 285 million kWh of electricity – including more than 100 million kWh from renewable sources – for 52 federal accounts across New York. Several federal agencies participated in the auctions, including the General Services Administration, Veterans Administration, U.S. Bureau of Prisons, USDA, Department of Interior, and U.S. Coast Guard.
Through a series of competitive online auctions run on the World Energy Exchange® on March 25, 2014, GSA tested 28 different products and terms in a fair and transparent manner, receiving 255 bids from six qualified retail electricity suppliers in under three hours. Highlighting the competitiveness of the pricing events, the average margin between the lowest and second lowest bids was $.00299 per kWh, representing over $850,000.
The online event resulted in the awarding of five new contracts for terms ranging from 12-36 months. In aggregate, the agencies participating in the auctions with GSA are expected to realize annual energy savings of $1.5 million per year, or 13%. For GSA accounts, specifically, the auctions yielded expected annual savings of $825,000, or 34%. GSA was able to accomplish these cost reductions while increasing the amount of renewable energy purchased by the participating agencies from 58 million kWh annually to 70 million kWh annually, a 21% increase. GSA increased the amount of renewable energy purchased for its participating accounts from 1.3 million kWh to 7.5 million kWh, a more than 400% increase.
"GSA continues to set the standard of excellence in Federal energy procurement and smart green investment," said Jonathan Harvey, Vice President, Government, at World Energy Solutions. "The fact that GSA, in concert with World Energy, can both reduce energy cost and deepen investment in renewables through one strategic process, as it has done here for these New York accounts, testifies to the leadership and vision of the agency, the expertise of the auction team, and the power of the World Energy Exchange."
Added Denise L. Pease, GSA Northeast and Caribbean Regional Administrator: "This is just one example of how GSA demonstrates its commitment to initiatives that will increase the amount of renewable energy that federal agencies use as well as save taxpayer dollars. President Barack Obama has made improving our nation's sustainability a key goal of his administration, and GSA is committed to supporting this goal through a variety of initiatives involving our building operations, supply services, and fleet management for the government."
Dating back to 2001, World Energy has had a long and successful relationship with GSA. Over this period, GSA and its clients have won several awards for energy procurement practices. Through World Energy, GSA has procured more than 14 billion kWh of electricity supply and 170 million Dth of natural gas supply for federal facilities over the course of hundreds of procurement events.
About GSA
As the federal government's workplace solutions provider, the U.S. General Services Administration works to foster an effective, sustainable and transparent government for the American people. GSA's expertise in government workplace solutions include:
- Effective management of government assets, including more than 9,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 215,000 vehicles in the federal fleet, and preservation of historic federal properties;
- Leveraging the government's buying power through responsible acquisition of products and services making up approximately 14 percent of the government's total procurement dollars;
- Providing innovative technology solutions to enhance government efficiency and increase citizen engagement; and
- Promoting responsible use of federal resources through development of government-wide policies ranging from federal travel to property and management practices.
For more information about GSA, please visit www.gsa.gov.
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.
This press release contains forward-looking statements which involve risk and uncertainties. The words "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "forecasts," "projects," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and projections about future events, including without limitation, its expectations of backlog and energy prices, and its expectations in growth in revenue, operating results, operating margins, and free cash flow. Although the Company believes that the expectations underlying any of its forward-looking statements are reasonable, these expectations may prove to be incorrect and all of these statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions, projections or expectations prove incorrect, actual results, performance or financial condition may vary materially and adversely from those anticipated, estimated or expected. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: the Company's revenue and backlog are dependent on actual future energy purchases pursuant to completed procurements; the demand for the Company's services is affected by changes in regulated prices or cyclicality or volatility in competitive market prices for energy; the potential impact on the Company's historical and prospective financial results of a change in accounting policy may negatively impact its stock price; and other factors outside the Company's control that affect transaction volume in the electricity market. Additional risk factors are identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 and subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements made in this press release are made as at the date hereof. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements expressed in this press release. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations relating to the future, and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, other than as required by securities laws.