OXFORD — Oxford Hills School District directors were told this week that savings from energy improvements in the past four years exceeded the guaranteed savings by 20 percent the past year and by 45 percent the past four years.

Directors were told about the savings during a presentation by a Siemens Inc. representative and district Business Manager Cathy Fanjoy Coffey during Monday’s meeting.

Siemens has worked with the district over the last four years to install a number of energy-saving improvements in district facilities, including solar panels, a windmill and LED lighting. Each year the company must present the board with energy cost savings under its performance contract.

Performance contracting is defined by Siemens as a financial vehicle that provides energy efficient facility improvements with no costs upfront. The costs are paid out of a guaranteed savings from the existing operating budget. Siemens must verify the savings each year. If the guarantee is not met, Siemens would give the school district a check for the difference.

This year the guaranteed savings was $239,329, but the actual savings was $288,614. Over the four-year improvement program, the total guaranteed savings was $879,058. The total savings to the school was actually $1,271,093 during those four years, for a difference of $392,035.

Although Fanjoy Coffey’s cost savings estimates were slightly different than the Siemens projection, she said her calculations of savings still well exceeded the expectations by $50,000 this year.

This year’s savings did not include those from the biomass furnace, which arrived in March and is expected to go online in November.

“We had hoped to save money (from the furnace) last year and we didn’t. It was a disappointment,” Fanjoy Coffey said.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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