East Porter schools among those signed up with Nordic

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 7:26 AM CST
http://www.nwitimes.com/

BY KEITH BENMAN
kbenman@nwitimes.com
219.933.3326

A cooperative of 23 school corporations has extended its contract with Nordic Energy, and six new ones have signed up to cut costs through better energy management and purchasing, according to the company.

New members of the North Central Energy Cooperative include the East Porter County School Corp. and Michigan City Area Schools.

"Nordic Energy provides our cooperative with a concept that saves our school districts valuable dollars," said cooperative committee member Larry Jackowiak, an administrator at Concord Community Schools. "For this reason, we decided as a group to extend our agreement with Nordic Energy."

The 29 school districts, through the cooperative, now have contracts with Nordic Energy as their exclusive energy manager and natural gas vendor running through 2010.

Nordic Energy, of Willowbrook, Ill., was founded six years ago. Today it manages the energy needs of 500 industrial and commercial facilities with annual energy requirements of $150 million, according to the company.

It manages energy costs for customers through electronic monitoring, managing energy efficiency projects, arranging financial risk management and other tools.

For the North Central Energy Cooperative, Nordic Energy creates cost savings by taking part in unique NIPSCO programs, according to Nordic President Jim Deering. NIPSCO is the natural gas and electric supplier for much of northern Indiana.

"We specialize in helping large groups with their energy procurement strategies, and we look forward to continuing our close work with this co-op to ensure that their energy purchasing and risk management are first-rate," Deering said.