Atlantic Energy would perform an audit of the school's facilities in order to determine where the school could save energy. Timothy Brock, the president of the company who presented the results of the company's preliminary report at the Board of Education's Feb. 4 meeting, said the school could save money through replacing and upgrading light fixtures, further weatherization to prevent heat loss, the use of wireless and battery-operated clocks and replacing or partially replacing roofs. Brock also mentioned the possibility of installing "cogeneration," technology that would allow the school to use an engine-powered generator, the excess heat from which could be put to additional uses such as reducing boiler usage and heating the pool.

According to Bob Brown, the Rutherford school district's business administrator, Atlantic Energy, would have to literally write a check to the district for the difference if after a pre-determined number of years the school hadn't made back in energy savings the cost of the entire project, including the company's fee.

The company's guarantee of the program results in some strange consequences. For instance, the school wouldn't have to get referendum approval from the voters because Atlantic Energy would be contractually obligated to repay any difference between the district's investment and the final amount of money saved. Instead, the board would pay the company by bonding for the money through a short-term loan, according to Brown. The company would be in charge of looking for technology grants and rebates from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

Furthermore, through a lease-purchase agreement Atlantic Energy would own all of the capital improvements and the district would lease them until the end of the plan, at which point they would be sold to the board of education for one dollar. Though Atlantic would be required to adhere to state restrictions on bidding out public contracts, because Atlantic and not the board of education is doing the purchasing, the company doesn't have to award contracts to the lowest bidder.

Atlantic Energy Services was founded in 1993 and has been employed by boroughs and school districts in New York and New Jersey. The company currently has six ongoing projects in the state, according to Brock. Brown said he became interested in the possibility of an energy-saving project with the company when he first learned about them at a conference in Atlantic City.

"The board is cautiously optimistic," said Brown. The next step would be to have the company perform a formal energy audit of the school, which would involve bringing in the company's professionals to survey the buildings and take readings of the school's energy costs. Brown noted that the board could still decide not to go through with the program after the audit at no cost to the district.

The board would determine whether to adopt a 5-, 10- or 15-year plan, according to Brown. Brock offered an estimate of $3.2 million for the 15-year project, but according to Brown that's only a very rough estimate based on the preliminary assessment of the district's buildings. Brock noted that if the district wished to replace roofs as part of the project, the slow rate of return would require the 15-year plan.

"It's too early for me to make an assessment," said O'Keefe. "[But] if everything they're saying they can do is possible, it's a homerun."

"I'm a little leery of proposals that say nothing can go wrong," said Novosielski. "[We] have to make sure they're solvent and that they can make the guarantees they say the can."

Rutherford resident Frank Wilson urged caution on the project at the Board of Education's Feb. 4 meeting.

"If it were that good, everybody would have it," he said. "When [would] we start making money on this?"