Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility board meets

NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) — Members of the board overseeing Delaware's Sustainable Energy Utility voted Friday to approve a new governance structure and a procurement policy, steps that should help improve accountability and transparency in the panel's work.

The SEU oversight panel approved the changes at a meeting that came amid heightened public scrutiny of the energy efficiency program.

Lawmakers voted in 2008 to establish the oversight board to help promote energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in Delaware.

But questions have been raised recently about the SEU's transparency and the way it does business, and one of its two co-chairs recently announced his resignation.

John Byrne, a University of Delaware professor, submitted his resignation letter to Gov. Jack Markell last week, saying he wanted to devote more time to a renewable energy foundation that he co-founded and chairs, and which has built off the work of the SEU. Byrne's resignation is effective June 1.

SEU board members voted Friday to elect the other co-chair, state Sen. Harris McDowell III, as chair of the panel. Kris Knight, who is director of the state Division of Accounting and was recently appointed to the SEU board by Markell, will serve as secretary and treasurer of the energy panel. The panel also picked Randall Day, an executive with Perdue AgriBusiness, as vice chair, subject to approval by his employer.

The SEU board also approved a new procurement policy following questions by Republican state Rep. Greg Lavelle about its business practices. Lavelle recently introduced legislation to make the SEU comply with state procurement laws after learning that it had issued a financial consulting contract without a competitive bidding process.

Tony DePrima, executive director of the SEU, told board members the new procurement policy meets state standards.

"It's absolutely in line with all of the state thresholds, in fact it's a little stricter," he said.

Board members also approved several months' worth of minutes from previous meetings, which were provided to Lavelle earlier this week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Lavelle filed the FOIA request for minutes of SEU board meetings dating as far back as 2007 after learning that they were missing from the SEU's website.

The SEU is still working on making its financial statements readily available to the public. The most recent monthly financial report on the SEU's Web site is from May 2011.

"The Sustainable Energy Utility is currently going through a comprehensive review of its financial accountants," reads a note posted by DePrima on the Web site in February. "Once completed we will begin to post our monthly statements and annual reports regularly. Your patience is appreciated."

On Friday, SEU board members asked Knight to provide a report after reviewing the SEU's current financial data. The board last year approved spending $25,000 for an audit of its finances. They also agreed to pay three invoices totaling more than $50,000 from lawyer Frank Murphy, who serves as a legal adviser to the SEU and also works in the legislature as an attorney for McDowell and other Senate Democrats.

Before adjourning Friday's meeting, McDowell defended the work of the SEU, saying its projects have brought significant energy savings to Delaware and put people to work.

"I don't think we need to hang our heads about anything," he said.