THE OPPORTUNITY
- With 237 schools and more than 182,000 students, Hillsborough County Public Schools, which encompasses Tampa, Florida, is the sixth-largest school district in the United States.
- Historically, Hillsborough's natural gas procurement was managed through the Department of Management Services for the State of Florida contract.
THE APPROACH
- Tradition Energy evaluated Hillsborough's existing natural gas agreement (managed by the State) and identified that the District was on a variable natural gas product. Variable products are volatile because they change price every day and can lead to high monthly costs.
- With its energy contract managed by the State, Hillsborough did not have the market transparency or understanding of how its natural gas rates were being determined. They were unaware of products options that could provide budget certainty and cost reductions.
- Tradition also discovered that Hillsborough had never partnered with an advisor for energy risk management and procurement, however, they did use OMNIA Partners, Public Sector, for cooperative purchasing of goods and services.
THE RESULTS
- Hillsborough County Public Schools utilized its OMNIA Partners, Public Sector cooperative contract, giving them access to Tradition's energy risk management and procurement services.
- The Tradition Energy Pricing Team sourced natural gas rate offers from local suppliers who competed for the District's business.
- As a result of the competitive procurement process involving all-natural gas suppliers, Hillsborough achieved a new rate that reduced its costs by 41% versus their previous contract and saved the District more than $540,000.
