California Energy Commission Seeks Contractor for Bright Schools Program

June 28, 2014
The California Energy Commission is seeking a prime contractor for the Bright Schools Program, which helps schools and community colleges pursue energy efficiency and clean, onsite self-generation

The California Energy Commission is seeking a prime contractor for the Bright Schools Program. The contractor will  head a team of established and experienced professional engineers.

The Bright Schools Program provides audits and technical assistance to local education agencies and community colleges that want to install energy efficiency measures and clean, onsite self-generation. California’s state legislature has designated $381 million for local educational agencies and $47 million for community college projects.

The program is meant to reduce the high cost of energy in California schools. Most of the state’s schools spend more on energy than on school supplies. The program typically reduces energy costs 15 to 20 percent annually. Schools have installed LED lights, demand based ventilation, new pool heaters, retrofitted HVAC and controls, pursued solar installations, and undertaken other energy improvements through the program.

The request for qualifications seeks a prime contractor to assist the schools. The commission plans to allot $4 million for the three-year contract, which may be increased to $6 million.

Among other things, the contract winner will conduct energy audits, prepare technical reports and help educational facilities  identify energy efficiency measures and clean onsite self-generation opportunities in participating facilities.

The commission may also sometimes request that the contractor assist other state entities with energy audits and other tasks.

The RFQ is open to both public and private entities.

The commission plans to hold a pre-bid conference July 17 at 1:30 pm at the California Energy Commission, Hearing Room A, 1516 9th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814;  (916) 654-4381.

The deadline to apply is August 7. The commission plans to select a winner September 2. The contract will run November 26 through November 12, 2017.

Questions and answers about the RFQ will be posted at http://www.energy.ca.gov/contracts/index.html.

For more information contact Cory Irish, commission agreement officer, California Energy Commission,(916) 654-4739, [email protected].

More details on the Bright Schools program are here. The RFQ and related information can be found here

About the Author

Elisa Wood | Editor-in-Chief

Elisa Wood is an award-winning writer and editor who specializes in the energy industry. She is chief editor and co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge and serves as co-host of the publication’s popular conference series. She also co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she continues to lead a team of energy writers who produce content for energy companies and advocacy organizations.

She has been writing about energy for more than two decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals as well as mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.

“For an especially readable voice in the industry, the most consistent interpreter across these years has been the energy journalist Elisa Wood, whose Microgrid Knowledge (and conference) has aggregated more stories better than any other feed of its time,” wrote Malcolm McCullough, in the book, Downtime on the Microgrid, published by MIT Press in 2020.

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