Narberth reviews electricity supply options with IGS Energy as contract nears expiry

At a work session April 3, the Narberth Borough Council heard a presentation from Graham Lou of IGS Energy about options for the borough’s electricity supply contract, which Lou said runs through December 2025.

The presentation outlined contract-length options ranging from 12 to 54 months, compared IGS pricing to the PECO default supply rate, and described market forces—especially rising PJM capacity costs—that could push supply bills higher this summer. "When we go out to lock in our rate, there are several cost components that make up a kilowatt hour rate," Lou said, adding that energy typically represents about 65% of the supply cost while a reliability or "capacity" component has risen recently.

The discussion matters for borough budgets: Lou told council the borough uses about 631,000 kilowatt hours per year and that the supplier arrangement with IGS had previously produced savings compared with the prior program. He said the earlier direct supplier contract eliminated a third‑party broker fee and yielded roughly $32,000 in savings over a prior 21‑month term. Lou also said the current supplier quote would include the borough’s EV chargers and the supplier’s offered product conserves the borough’s existing green‑energy component.

Council members asked technical questions about which costs appear on which invoices. "In the state of Pennsylvania, generation and transmission fall on the supplier side of the invoice and distribution falls on the PECO side of the invoice," Lou said, adding that transmission and supplier quotes account for the current transmission rates and that distribution charges remain controlled by PECO. Council member Jason (last name not specified) asked where transmission charges appear; Lou answered that those are baked into the supplier rates shown.

Borough staff said they will circulate an updated packet with the most recent pricing figures. "We didn't get the updated packet until very late today, so I will be sending out the revised packet," said Maggie (borough staff; last name not specified). Council member Andrew Deutsch (as recorded on the roll call) and others indicated no objections to further discussions with IGS; the council did not take a formal vote.

Next steps: borough staff will post the revised packet and continue negotiations with IGS on term length and hedging strategy. Lou told the council that mid‑range terms (roughly three years) were commonly chosen by municipal customers seeking budget predictability, and that IGS can refinance or "blend and extend" contracts over the term if market prices later fall. The council also asked the solicitor to be kept updated on the community choice aggregation (CCA) status and timeline for setting up a new contract.

No formal motion or contract award was made at the session.