Orange Village council approves two-year fixed natural gas contract with NextEra

Orange Village Council voted on April 9 to authorize the mayor to sign a two-year natural gas supply agreement with NextEra Energy Services.

Council members said staff compared multiple proposals before recommending NextEra. "Our 2 year contract is coming up here at the April and, we're looking to renew that. We've done our due diligence on apples to apples, done a lot of comparisons there. NextEra, NOPEC has given us a contract price proposal that's locked in currently and, it is lower than any other 1 that we had, come across," a staff member identified in the meeting said. The same speaker said the fixed rate provides predictability for the village budget: "having a fixed rate contract for 2 years enables us to, reasonably predict what our bills are going to be on a monthly basis."

Council briefly discussed the trade-offs of fixed versus variable pricing; staff noted that variable rates are a "big gamble." The finance department was described as having reviewed and supported the recommendation.

The motion to authorize the mayor to sign the agreement was made and seconded and then approved by roll call with the following votes recorded: Phil Madden — Yes; Jeff Foster — Yes; Ulmer/Ulner — Yes; Vincent — Yes; Perry — Yes; Silver — Yes. (Names and vote labels are as recorded at roll call.)

No dollar amounts, term-of-service penalties, or contract language beyond the two-year fixed term were provided in the meeting record.

The village did not state a date when the contract becomes effective or what supplier will serve individual customer accounts; those details were not specified in the discussion.