(Washington, DC) Over 25 local jurisdictions will save millions of dollars in natural gas over the next three years, thanks to the region's first natural gas reverse auction held today at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). 

The auction, which was coordinated by the Government of the District of Columbia's Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP) in conjunction with COG's Cooperative Purchasing Program, will help reduce costs for local jurisdictions and their taxpayers through volume buying. In a bid for the largest cooperative purchase of natural gas on the East Coast, Washington Gas Energy Services and Pepco Energy Services auctioned for the right to contract with local jurisdictions and entities for 36 months of service. The companies bid on four separate "lots," or groupings of participants based on location, containing a total of 24 jurisdictions and agencies.

"With today's reverse auction, we saved residents in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia millions of dollars," said Oscar S. Rodriguez, OCP's interim Chief Procurement Officer.  "This collaboration highlights the improvements we have made as a region in our planning efforts and echoes the fact that when local jurisdictions work together, everyone benefits."

For the reverse auction, anonymous bids began at a price ceiling set for each lot and continued until the lowest offer was reached. The final bids will save participating jurisdictions and agencies a total of $4.9 million based on the ceiling price. The lot ceiling prices are lower than the current rates paid by the jurisdictions.

"What you're seeing here is a testament to the power of what local governments can do when they come together," said Mark A. Nuzzo, Chief Operating Officer of Co-exprise Technology, the company that executed the reverse auction. "These are the same companies that contacted you in January and said they didn't know how low they could go."

Today's participants included the District of Columbia, the University of the District of Columbia, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, City of Alexandria, Alexandria Sanitation Authority, Fairfax County, Fairfax County Water Authority, City of Falls Church, the Town of Leesburg, Loudoun County, Prince William County, Prince William County Service Authority, the Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority, and the Washington Convention Center. Also participating were the school systems for Alexandria, Arlington County, Charles County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, and the City of Manassas.

COG is the association of 21 jurisdictions working for a better metropolitan region.