EATON — Amy Hoffman from Palmer Energy presented information at two public hearings regarding electric and natural gas aggregation for City of Eaton residents and small businesses on Wednesday, June 7.
Palmer Energy is the energy consultant for the city of Eaton as well as the Miami Valley Communications Council.
“MVCC has chosen to move forward with electric and gas aggregation and reached out to the cities that are members. We will have 16 cities that are all joining together on this first grouping,” Palmer said.
The communities, including Eaton, put the measure on the ballot either last November, or this past May 2 election. All 16 have approved aggregation. “Everyone will be on one large aggregation and everyone will have the same rate. And this is going to be the case for electric and gas both,” Hoffman told those in attendance.
“We’ve actually gone out for pricing. We did an RFP (request for proposal) to multiple suppliers,” Hoffman said, noting that when the pricing comes back and a supplier is selected by MVCC, residents will be notified of what the rate will be via an opt-out letter. The pricing information will also be made available on the city’s website.
“Aggregation is just an option, other than getting your generation directly from the utility, so we’re talking AES and Centerpointe. You’ll still get your bills from them. It’s just the supplier, whoever wins the contract for the aggregation — that’s who will be on your bill,” she said.
Those who have already utilized Energy Choice’s Apples to Apples tool and done rate shopping on their own and entered into a third-party contract, will not receive an opt-out letter and should watch for information on the city’s website (www.cityofeaton.org) and in the R-H regarding the rate which has been garnered for the MVCC aggregation.
Hoffman answered several residents’ questions regarding the aggregation process during the meeting, and left them with a handout providing the answers to several frequently asked questions.
City of Eaton residents do not need to do anything to join the program. However, anyone who does not want to participate in the program can easily opt out by returning the form, which will be mailed to all eligible members.
What does “opt-out” mean? Since all eligible residents are automatically enrolled in the governmental aggregation program, those residents who do not want to participate are given the opportunity to opt out. By returning the opt-out form by the due date, which is included in a letter that is mailed to all eligible residents, residents can choose not to be enrolled as an electric or natural gas generation customer with the community’s competitive electric generation supplier.
If a resident does not return the opt-out form postmarked by the due date, they will be included in the community’s governmental aggregation program and will begin receiving the competitively priced electricity from the community’s selected supplier.
Residents can opt-out at any time. Opting out would return residents to their current electric utility, which will continue supplying electricity (or natural gas) as it always has, or they can shop for an alternative generation supplier.
Hoffman reminded those in attendance, the local electric utility (AES) and natural gas provider (Centerpointe Energy) will be still be responsible for the delivery of power to Eaton homes and businesses and will continue reading their meters.
Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on Twitter @emowenjr.
