Monday, June 10, 2002
Trumbull County commissioners have placed working with a power broker on hold for now.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BROOKFIELD -- Nancy Mills says she believes township trustees should ask residents if they want to pool their electric buying power in search of lower rates.
"I think it should be on the ballot, so voters can say they had a voice," Mills said as she fussed with flowers at her Brookfield Gardens that she's operated for 31 years.
Trustees are considering asking voters in November if they want to pool their buying power in hope of lower rates.
"If it can save us [the township] and residents money, I'm all for it," said Trustee Gary P. Lees.
Lees and Trustee J. Phillip Schmidt said they began considering the possibility of joining an aggregation of customers after hearing proposals in May by Buckeye Energy Brokers Inc. of Twinsburg and the Ohio Consumers Council.
Lees said older residents have expressed an interest in the program after hearing from Buckeye Energy.
On the agenda
Schmidt said placing the question on the Nov. 5 general election ballot will be on the agenda for the trustees' July 1 meeting.
Schmidt said residents could save $15 to $30 annually in electric costs.
"That's as low as we've seen," commented Thomas M. Bellish, Buckeye Energy's chief sales engineer.
In Howland Township, where buying from an energy broker has sparked interest, township Administrator Darlene St. George said commercial customers would realize a $100 to $200 annual savings.
Mills said $30 per year won't make or break a residential customer, and Ohio Edison has done well in providing a supply of power.
Mills said she believes that the question of aggregation should be well researched by voters "because government officials don't always make the right decisions."
Jim Logan, owner of Logan & amp; Co., a local silk-screen business, said he too believes the issue should go before voters.
Logan, of Brookfield, said he favors the issue, if money can be saved, not only for residents and businesses, but for schools as well.
Paul Harkey, Ohio Edison manager in Mahoning County, said aggregation is strictly a business decision for local communities.
OE, he explained, can't decrease rates because it remains regulated and current rates are locked in until Dec. 31, 2006.
St. George said Howland trustees may consider placing the question on the ballot if county commissioners don't act on a countywide program. Commissioner Joseph J. Angelo Jr. said commissioners were considering placing a countywide electric aggregation issue on the ballot, but they decided to hold off.
Angelo explained commissioners are concerned that if the county is locked into an electric rate and the price of power decreases, customers will lose money, such as occurred with natural gas rates.
"We don't want to be locked into a situation that will cost money," the commissioner asserted.
Putting the issue on the ballot doesn't cost any money, St. George noted. "It really gives the constituents the opportunity to save some money."
Under what is termed an opt-out program, customers would be automatically enrolled in a plan chosen by trustees.
If residents or businesses don't want to participate, they can remain with their own power provider.
Bellish said Buckeye Energy services about 20 Ohio communities as an electric and natural gas broker.
The company brokers natural gas for such communities as Howland, Austintown and Canton and gas and electricity in Euclid and Stow.
If the question is approved by voters in November, switching from Ohio Edison will begin in March, Bellish said.
yovich@vindy.com