BRCPC News
Meetings
BRCPC
The next BRCPC meeting will be 10:30 A.M., February 14, 2012 in the BMC office.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS GROUP
The next public schools group meeting will be March 13, 2012, 10:30 A.M. in the BMC office.
BRCPC-CPOC NEWS
Front Row: Harry Bain, Regional Purchasing Coordinator, BMC; William Schull, BRCPC Chair & Purchasing Agent, Anne Arundel County; Stephen Gordon, CPOC Chair & Director of Procurement, City of Alexandria;
Standing: Edward Scott, Acting Director of Department of Central Services, Prince George's County; Floyd Holt, Deputy Director of Department of Central Services, Prince George's County (not pictured: Carl Kalish, Purchasing and Facilities Director, COG)
The cooperative purchasing committee of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments(COG) have agreed to work together to plan and create contracts for goods, services, and construction that would mutually benefit the neighboring regions. COG's Chief Purchasing Officers Committee and BMC's Baltimore Regional Cooperative Purchasing Committee signed the agreement on April 9, 2009 at a meeting in Largo, Maryland.
Through the Chief Purchasing Officers Committee (CPOC), participating agencies, school boards, authorities, and commissions combine bidding requirements resulting in large volume and better unit pricing. Similarly, the Baltimore Regional Cooperative Purchasing Committee (BRCPC) work together for mutal benefit.
The two regions expect to secure even better value for dollars spent on goods, services and construction through the new BRCPC-CPOC partheship. The agreement will allow them to stretch work-force capacity among the local governments in the two neighboring regions.
Energy
The energy subcommittee was chaired by Stephen Myer. CPPB, Senior Buyer for Baltimore County Government.
The efforts of the BRCPC Energy Board focused on continued management of energy price risk for both electric and natural gas portfolios, negotiation on a long term power purchase agreement with a locally based new capacity renewal resource, negotiation on the long term purchase of locally generated solar renewable energy certificates to meet state renewable requirements and the solicitation for a replacement electric supply services provider for the electric portfolio.
The BRCPC energy portfolio’s flexible structure enabled them to take advantage of the significant drop in energy prices during 2009 and first quarter of 2010. Favorably priced fixed rate energy commodity purchases were executed covering energy delivered in fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014. For the electric portfolio, purchases were made at the PJM Western Hub; however opportunities to lock in favorable prices at the local BGE zone continue to be evaluated. For natural gas, the portfolio purchased as much natural gas injected into storage for winter delivery as permissible during the spring and summer of 2010 to take advantage of historical low commodity prices
For fiscal year 2010, program savings for the entire BRCPC electric portfolio was approximately $2 million when compared to the local electric utility’s (BGE) standard offer service (SOS) rates. Savings were significantly lower in 2010 relative to prior years as the BGE SOS rate’s shorter term re-pricing schedules occurring during dramatic declines in energy market prices, offset most of the SOS structural disadvantages relative to the portfolio. Total FY 2010 electric consumption was 1.37 billion kWh. For the natural gas portfolio, savings of $.30 dekatherm continue as a result of unbundling and competitive bidding of natural gas supply services. A total of 2.08 million dekatherms were delivered to the portfolio jurisdictions during FY2010.
The Energy Board continues to initiate investigations into new, cost effective ways of procuring energy from new local generation sources, including renewable energy. Supporting new generation capacity efforts in the central Maryland region helps stabilize and reduce capacity and energy costs for the portfolio as well as the entire Central Maryland region. BRCPC’s size and credit standing allow it to play an important role in supporting new capacity efforts for Central Maryland. As of December 2010, BRCPC was in advanced stages to entering into an agreement for a 25 MW long term power purchase agreement with a locally based new capacity renewable resource. In addition, BRCPC is n the process of finalizing a long term purchase of solar renewable energy certificates for a solar project to be constructed on a member’s site.
BRCPC issued a solicitation during 2010 for an electric supply services provider as the current electric supply services contract expires in Deceiver of 2011.A pre bid conference was held and a total of seven responses were received of which four were short listed, A final decision on the selection of a contractor is expected to be announced sometime in the first quarter of 2011.
back to topMBE/WBE
This subcommittee was chaired by Deborah Henderson, Director of Procurement for Harford County Government.
As previously noted, the third Regional Procurement Diversity Expo was held in September, 2010. The event was organized by the MBE/WBE coordinators representing Baltimore City, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties. Procurement representatives from all over the region welcomed 166 registered guests. Welcome remarks were given by Larry Klimovitz, Executive Director of BMC. Milton Hunt, a successful minority business man, served as the Keynote Speaker and delivered an inspiring speech on “How to do Business in these Changing Times”.
As in the past, the event provided unlimited opportunities and proved to be a valuable resource for businesses as well as procurement staff.
Present plans are for the event to be held every other year to encourage meaningful participation by all sectors of the business community in governmental and educational procurements.
back to topOffice Furniture
The subcommittee is chaired by Darla Herbold, CPPO, Purchasing Administrator, Howard County Government.
Throughout the contract life the group may consider requests for new items to be added to the office furniture contract as new conditions arise. Howard County as lead agency monitors contract oompliance and issues bi-annual expenditure reports. Expenditures each year are in the $13 million range, Because of the atttractive discounts, many public and educational entities within Maryland and surrounding states use the contract.
back to topPublic Schools
The subcommittee, chaired by Jeff Parker, Purchasing Office, Baltimore City Public Schools.
The group worked diligently to collaborate on appropriate procurement actions throughout the year. As a result of their work, within and outside BRCPC efforts, some of the smaller school districts were able to take advantage of contract pricing otherwise not available to them. The benefit of cooperative action as it affects the market place is the major focus for the group.
The group continues to expand its outreach by working with CPOC members, our counterpart in the Washington DC region.
Successes in the joint effort include a printer cartridge contract that reduces the cost of the items for all participants. Another success story is the establishment of a contract for testing forms used in a majority of schools throughout both regions.
As the year drew to a close, the group was working on a new initiative to lower the cost of freight logistics with small package delivery providers. The effort holds cost reduction potential for the school systems as well as the local government and other tax-funded entities.
Another inter-regional effort is a web based application to gather and use data to analyze expenditures. The result of using data to understand how funds are being expended will serve to examine existing priorities. The result will provide a structured approach to collaborative concepts. At the present time, there are five participating school systems within the BRCPC/CPOC geographical region. As is the case with the small package delivery service mentioned above, the effort holds potential to offer meaningful cost reductions through cooperative work.
Continuing successes include the annual printing paper reverse auction. The cost reductions have been in the $ 200, 000 range. Additional school systems may join the next procurement as they review the advantageous pricing obtained through the process. Another $ 3,700,000 was saved on facility projects related to science labs, media centers and window replacements by using the reverse auction process Cost savings/avoidances are realized through the prices paid, labor saved, and overall influence of terms.
back to topPublic Works
The subcommittee was chaired by Stephen Myer, CPPB, Senior Buyer, Baltimore County Government.
The group meets regularly to review existing public works related contracts, determine renewal options and examine potential new efforts. Active participants include representatives from Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties. During 2010, the group establshed new contracts for masonry services, on-call bituminous concrete paving and iremote video surveillance. As the year ended, the group was competing a bid to provde a region wide apporach to purchase chemicals needed for water and wastewater treatment. The bid was scheduled to open in January, 2011.
back to topBMC Contact Person: Harry H. Bain, CPPO, C.P.M., Coordinator, Regional Purchasing
Baltimore Metropolitan Council
Baltimore Regional Cooperative Purchasing Committee
1500 Whetstone Way, Suite 300
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 January 2012 09:24