Georgetown City Council moved forward in contract negotiations with two companies for its electric energy portfolio managed services Aug. 27. The council voted to continue contract negotiations with Shell Energy North America and Tenaska Power Services for the management services. The two were among three finalists for the services. The third company was Boston Energy Trading and Marketing LLC. The city was seeking consultant services to improve its energy portfolio management by offloading excess power; reporting energy positions, exposure and risk; forecasting and budgeting power costs; and monitoring Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, transmission. “We issued this [request for proposal, or RFP] because we felt we needed to outsource to improve our capabilities,” Georgetown City Manager David Morgan said. The city issued a RFP in February with bids due in March. Twelve companies bid for the contract. Morgan said after committee interviews, the three finalists were decided to be presented to council. City staff will negotiate a contract for electric energy portfolio managed services with the two companies and bring the contracts to the City Council for approval. In November, the city found its 2017-18 electric fund budget $6.84 million short at $1.97 million instead of the projected $8.81 million. This was due to the city over-purchasing power and selling the excess back to the market at a loss after energy prices dropped. The city has since tried to mitigate the issue by outsourcing various services to different third-party vendors.

In other business

City Council granted the contract for the Old Town Northeast Sidewalk project in the amount of $855,000 to Choice Builders LLC of Temple. The project will provide Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalk along Seventh Street from the Southwestern University area to Myrtle Street.