1/28/14 Millersburg council signs on with electric supplier

  • By Nick Sabo
  • January 28, 2014
  • 369
                        
SUMMARY: Residential customers could save $100 or more per year under electrical aggregation Millersburg households could see a savings of $100 or more on their electric bills on a village wide electrical aggregation. Millersburg Village Council voted Monday Jan. 27 to go with a 36 month contract with FirstEnergy Solutions at a fixed price of $0.0638 per kilowatt hour (KWh). According to First Energy’s proposal, an electrical customer using 9,500 KWh who is currently paying $0.0763 per KWh will see a savings of $119.23 per year. The $0.0763 per KWh was based on the current price to compare. The price to compare is the cost per KWh charged by the local electric utility company. FirstEnergy was one of four power companies to submit a request for proposal (RFP) for the village’s electrical aggregation. The aggregation is composed of most electrical customers in the village, including residential and small commercial users. Some customers use too much power to be part of the aggregation: An example would the village itself. The RFPs required the suppliers to submit a fixed price, as well as a price that would be based on a fixed percentage below the average monthly price to compare. The RFPs further required quotes for 12, 24, and 36 months. FirstEnergy’s proposal cited $0.066 per KWh as its 12 month fixed price and $0.0661 as its 24 month fixed price. Village Administrator Nate Troyer suggested council accept FirstEnergy’s proposal. “I think FirstEnergy’s 36 month term fixed is the best,” Troyer said. “I think the 12 month term is pretty short term, we’re just signing on (now) and we’ll be right back on top of it again” once the 12 months is up, Troyer said. Mayor Jeff Huebner noted that the 36 month fixed price cannot change through the term of the contract, “giving customers some stability when it comes to their electric bills”. Huebner did his own price savings comparison using bills from his household over the last 13 months. Huebner said he would have saved $113 with FirstEnergy’s 36 month fixed price. All eligible customers will be automatically enrolled with FirstEnergy as their supplier but can choose to opt out. American Electric Power will continue to be the electrical provider and will handle billing. Prior to the First Energy contract coming into effect, customers will be contacted by mail, Troyer said. Selecting the provider is yet another step in aggregation. Troyer said he and village Solicitor Bob Hines will review the FirstEnergy contract and “assuming they are fine, we’ll get rolling”. FirstEnergy’s proposal also included a grant program that would return $10 per customer when the term of the contract was up. However, the 36 month fixed price under the grant program was $0.0016 per KWh higher than without, Troyer said. The next lowest RFP 36 month fixed price was from DPL Energy at $0.0648. AEP’s 36 month fixed price was $0.0656, and Constellation’s 36 month fixed price was $0.0692.


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