PARIS — SAD 17 is pursuing a possible breach of contract with its wood chip broker, General BioFuel Inc., after a request for delivery of chips at the contracted price went unheeded.

The wood chips are used to heat Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris.

To ensure the building is heated, Superintendent Rick Colpitts said the district has temporarily decided to purchase wood chips from an Oxford sawmill company.

Colpitts told SAD 17 directors in an email that he has placed the matter in the hands of the school district’s attorney. The Canadian-based company has been told the district will temporarily purchase wood chips from a local company at a higher price.

Michael Record of Oxford Timber Sawmill  in Oxford has agreed to provide the chips at $62 a ton, he said.

The Canadian company has been asked to compensate the school district for $8,000 to $9,000 price difference, Colpitts told directors Monday night.

In February 2011, the district awarded the wood chip bid to General Biofuel of Toronto, Canada, the low bidder of four companies. The Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School biomass boiler was fired up later in the year.

At the time, the Operations Committee recommended General Biofuel for type-two chips at $54 per ton for the first year, $54.50 for the second year, $55 for the third year, $55.50 for the fourth year and $56 for the fifth year.

The award was based on a unanimous recommendation from the Operations Committee after consultation with the biomass furnace engineers at Siemens and Viesmann officials, the manufacturer of the biomass furnace.

But this year, when SAD 17 Facilities Director Nelson Baillargeon requested a delivery of chips on Oct. 7, the delivery was never made.

Ten days after several attempts by SAD 17 to contact the broker by phone and mail went unanswered, the broker sent an email Oct. 17 stating, “We are still in the process of sourcing new material. Unfortunately, I do not have a viable solution at this moment as prices have escalated significantly.”

“They can’t find (wood chips) for the price they contracted,” Baillargeon told the Sun Journal on Monday.

Baillergaon said the district typically buys about 800 tons of wood chips seasonally to heat the high school. Each delivery provides about 30 tons.

The $2 million-plus conversion project from oil to wood chips at the school was planned to address escalating fuel costs and to make the district more energy independent. The furnace supplements about 90 percent of the consumption of No. 2 fuel oil.

Two of the three oil burners remain in place to supplement heat in the fall and spring and in case the biomass furnace goes down during the winter, officials said.

A phone call to the General BioFuel broker on Monday went unanswered. Attempts to reach the corporate headquarters also were unsuccessful.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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