COVINGTON, GA – The City of Covington, one of 16 agencies participating in the North Georgia Fuel Cooperative purchasing fuel in bulk to save money, is currently awaiting bids from fuel providers, according to the Covington News. Officials expect 8-10 bids from the Atlanta market, including some from the larger national fuel companies.

Initially, bids were supposed to come in by May 21, but the deadline has been moved back to July 11 due to the logistical difficulty in dealing with 16 agencies, which all use different fuel types and fuel pricing agreements, reported the Covington News.

The 16 agencies have a combined fuel need of almost 24 million gallons. Gwinnett County is leading the effort and Purchasing Director Scott Callan said Gwinnett, which purchases 6 million gallons annually, would already save $100,000 if it had the pricing of the agency with the lowest current price in the cooperative.

Covington, requesting 183,716 gallons, typically uses 8,600 gallons of gasoline and 6,600 gallons of diesel per month, usually supplied by Pijon Inc-Shell Products and Woco Pep Oil Co., according to the Covington News.

As of now, the cooperative has asked for single pricing, not for different pricing for different geographies. However, Callan said many details could still change, including private businesses becoming involved in the cooperative as well.

Cooperative agencies are: Cobb County and Cobb schools, Dawson County and Dawson schools, DeKalb County and DeKalb schools, Forsyth County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County and Gwinnett schools, Jackson County, and the cities of Atlanta, Covington, Gainesville, Marietta, and Smyrna. Other agencies are also considering participating, reported the Covington News.