MBTA locks in power supply through 2015

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has awarded BP Energy a four-year contract to supply power to MBTA, with hopes of saving $4.7 million in savings on electricity costs in fiscal 2012.

The MBTA uses 435,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year to run its lights, buildings, and transit system.

BP was chosen from among six bidders, offering MBTA $65.72 per megawatt-hour through 2015. The agreement reportedly covers 70% of MBTA’s power needs, with the remaining 30% supplied by ISO New England.

Earlier this summer MBTA selected SPS New England to construct a 100-kilowatt wind turbine near its Kingston, Mass., station. MBTA also plans to place a second wind turbine at its Bridgewater, Mass., station in 2012.

BPf in January forecast that renewable power sources will outpace oil as global energy demand surges nearly 40% in the next 20 years.