After a short 15 minute auction operated by EMEX Reverse Auction, Paterson settled on an electricity contract that would save more than $214,000 over the course of 2 years in energy bills, according to the auction company.

Much of the electricity goes into powering street lights, traffic lights, and city owned buildings. The city spends $2.4m annually in electricity bills. Last month the city council approved the online auction hoping it would save at least $100k for the city.

The auction which took place on May 9th, 2013, attracted bids from 9 energy companies, and it resulted in 100 different bids. The 24 month contract between the new energy supplier — company’s name will be added once discovered — and the city is set to start next month.