OPINION:
Recently, The Washington Times incorrectly portrayed Pepco Energy Services’ potential business with Metro (“Pepco bidding process perplexes Metro: Transit agency backs out of deal,” Page 1, July 12). As president and CEO of Pepco Energy Services, I want to clear up some of the misrepresented information.
The article indicated Metro sought a noncompetitive, no-bid contract to improve Metro’s energy efficiency when in reality Pepco Energy Services responded to a public request for proposal in which one price was provided. While Pepco Energy Services won the bid, the construction portion of the contract was never awarded.
Conversations between Metro and Pepco Energy regarding multiple projects of varying size did follow the submission. As a result, corresponding pricing was discussed and reflected in the varying dollar amounts mentioned in the article. To date, no formal offer has been made, however.
Moreover, there were leadership changes at Metro during the negotiating process, which made it difficult to reach a decision as to what energy-saving improvements would best serve Metro’s needs.
The article also incorrectly said this was a Pepco bid when in fact it was a Pepco Energy Services’ bid. While both companies operate under the Pepco Holdings Inc. umbrella, Pepco Energy Services deals exclusively with commercial activities and does not provide regulated utility service. We assist companies in energy conservation efforts, activities that pay for themselves over time and are utilized by more and more businesses to not only save money but help implement environmentally friendly business practices.
Since 1995, we have helped numerous private and public customers save nearly $1 billion in energy costs, and for the past seven years we have maintained consecutive top rankings by the Maryland Department of General Services for Energy Services Companies.
We remain steadfast in our efforts to provide Metro with energy-saving projects and hope that our transparency in these efforts will better explain our role.
JOHN HUFFMAN
President and CEO of Pepco Energy Services
Washington
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