School Energy Consortium Collecting Millions
March 13, 2007 by admin
Filed under General, Illinois Energy Consortium
School districts, under the guise of savings, are potentially thwarting the law and costing the taxpayers.
A lawsuit is underway over the energy consortium used by about 300 school districts to buy energy. The consortium was setup to save school districts money. According to the suit the districts may be violating state law since many are not requiring bids before the purchase of energy. The consoritium also is collecting millions in fees and may not be the lowest cost of energy for all school districts.
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Anticipating savings, District 211 awarded electricity and gas contracts to the consortium in May without getting formal bids. Rowden, a taxpayer in District 211, questioned that move, saying bidding is required by law and is in the best interest of taxpayers. His client is asking a judge to declare the energy contracts null and void and order the district to get bids. The consortium did not offer the lowest prices and did not win contracts in two neighboring districts that had a bidding process for utility services last year, court records show. District 211 officials argued the law did not require them to bid their energy contracts and sought to dismiss the lawsuit. So far, a judge has refused. The district argued in court that the consortium only charges what’s necessary to cover the costs of utilities, records show. That doesn’t make sense to Rowden. “If you’re telling the world, or the circuit court, that you only charge what is necessary to cover the cost of the commodity, how do you then charge these fees that generate millions over time directed back to [the school associations]?” Rowden asked. He said the consortium is not being open about its financial arrangements with the districts. “When you call yourself a not- for-profit corporation, I think most of the public thinks charity,” Rowden said. What we’re telling you is that the [consortium] is anything but a charity.” |
This practice sounds familiar. These are no-bid contracts with kick backs to the school associations. It is also run by school officials.
For those wishing to track this case more there is a new blog setup by a taxpayer in District 211 called, District 211 Public Schools. They have an interesting article up about this story entitled “How did the Illinois Energy Consortium calculate how much school districts have saved?”
Bruno Behrend of Extreme Wisdom has interviewed the attorneys in this case and has shared his thoughts on this case. You will find it very interesting indeed.
The Energy Commision website can be found here. They have a response to the Chicago Tribune’s article. It can be found here.
Locally, I am aware the Grayslake Elementary District 46 does purchase energy from the consortium. I will have more details on that later.
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One Response to “School Energy Consortium Collecting Millions”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] The SFA fixed the glaring financial mismanagement that had been rampant in the district necessitating the State oversite. They allowed the no-bid practice to continue that has enabled other State organizations, the IASB, IASBO, and the IASA to collect millions of dollars at the expense of the taxpayers. [...]