OXFORD – SAD 17 realized $327,000 in energy savings in one year under its contract with Siemens Technology, school officials said this week.

The company was hired last year to make improvements throughout the 12 schools ranging from adding energy efficient fixtures to sealing air cracks. Siemens guaranteed savings.

“We are satisfied with the outcome and certainly glad that the board supported us and we were able to get the project done before the unprecedented increases in fuel costs,” SAD 17 business manager Cathy Fanjoy said Wednesday.

According to information from Fanjoy, during the first year of the contract, Siemens guaranteed a savings of $200,945.

Under the performance contract, Siemens must verify the guaranteed savings each year and if the guarantee is not met, Siemens must reimburse the difference between the guaranteed amount and the actual savings.

Fanjoy said that when energy costs increase, the district’s savings will increase. “If the savings were calculated using the energy prices at the time we entered into the contract our savings would have been $226,000, not $327,000. We would have still met the contract,” she explained.

According to the report, which was presented to directors at their Monday night meeting, the project has decreased the district’s costs for energy, paid the loan for the work, and generated $125,000 in additional savings. The project has also had a significant positive impact on the environment and generated interest across the state for other school systems to develop similar performance contracts.

The success of the project was seen in the savings at each of the schools, including the high school, where $202,476 was saved in one year. Each school also showed a higher than guaranteed savings in energy costs.