REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
A meeting of the Finance Committee was held on Wednesday, February 5, 2020, 7:00 p.m. at City Hall in
Room 208.
Mayor Jim Donchess, Chairman, presided.
Members of the Committee present: Alderman Patricia Klee, Vice Chair
Alderman-at-Large Michael B. O’Brien
Alderman-at-Large Brandon Michael Laws
Alderwoman-at-Large Shoshanna Kelly
Alderman Linda Harriott-Gathright
Alderwoman Elizabeth Lu
Also in Attendance: John Griffin, CFO/Comptroller
Dan Kooken, Purchasing Manager
David Fredette, Treasurer/Tax Collector
Nick Caggiano, Superintendent of Parks & Rec
Doria Brown, Energy Manager
PUBLIC COMMENT
COMMUNICATIONS
From: Doria Brown, Energy Manager
Re: Pre-approval to enter into contracts with 3“ party suppliers for natural gas and electricity supplies
MOTION BY ALDERMAN HARRIOTT-GATHRIGHT TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE, AND AUTHORIZE THE
ENERGY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS WITH 3°° PARTY SUPPLIERS FOR NATURAL GAS
AND ELECTRICYT SUPPLIES
ON THE QUESTION
Mayor Donchess
This is Ms. Brown, the City’s Energy Manager and she is going to give you more of the details but we are
following the same procedure that we’ve done in the past. The City bids for, in this case, energy/natural gas
and because you need to bid at a specific moment we typically have authorized the bid to be submitted in
advance. Because if she had to wait a week or month the price is gone. In any event, why don’t we let Doria
explain, Ms. Brown explain more of the details.
Doria Brown, Energy Manager
Alright so it’s energy season, every season is energy season though and it’s time to lock in on some prices for
our municipal buildings. I’m also going out to bid for natural gas for the schools. This is the opportunity to lock
in at lower rates from third party supplies, instead of staying on the Eversource rates which are substantially
higher. So we will be looking to lock in on third party supply; but the thing about the third party supply market
is that is fluctuates very quickly. So one day prices could be at an 8-year low and the next day they could be
extremely high. So the ability to lock in on those prices the day that they are low and the hour they are low is
very important to get the best value in these contracts. So being able to lock in then and then deliver you the
contracts afterwards would be extremely helpful to get the lowest rates possible.
