Gahanna told aggregation rates will rise as PJM capacity charges spike; program still below AEP Ohio standard service offer

Gahanna City Council heard a rate update May 19 from representatives of the city's energy aggregation program and its vendor, who said an upcoming price increase is driven primarily by a sharp rise in regional capacity charges and will take effect in June.

Luke Suffrage and Stephen Harris of the SOPEC/Gahanna Energy Plus program told the council that since the program reactivated in December 2024 it has produced savings while providing a green supply option. "Since December, we've seen about $423,000 in savings, across customers," Suffrage said, noting that the figure includes small commercial and residential accounts. He said about 9,000 customers are currently enrolled in the aggregation.

The presenters said the price increase is linked to capacity charges set by PJM, the regional transmission operator. "From a capacity standpoint, the capacity went tenfold this year," Suffrage said, and the program has seen capacity rise by roughly "about 2 and a half cents per kilowatt hour" for the market. He and Harris explained the increase reflects higher prices for the standby generation used in peak-demand hours and broader capacity pressures across PJM.

Despite the increase, the presenters said Gahanna's aggregation price is expected to remain below AEP Ohio's Standard Service Offer (SSO). "Gahanna is locked in at a lower rate," Suffrage said, describing the program as "a green power" option that should still be cheaper than the SSO for the coming supply year (June through May 2026). Presenters said residents can also opt into a lower-cost "brown" product within the aggregation if they choose.

Council members asked for additional detail about the duration of the higher capacity charges and what residents would receive in upcoming communications. Schnetzer asked whether rate relief is likely beyond the next 12 months; Suffrage said the higher capacity environment could persist "for the next several years," and urged deployment of renewable assets to reduce peak demand. Padova asked who would receive the mailed notification; presenters said the postcard would go to eligible aggregation accounts (excluding customers in PIP programs or those already on private supply or on a do-not-aggregate list by statute). Suffrage said an electronic version would be provided to the city before the end of the month and that AP Energy expected to mail postcards by the end of May.

Presenters described program mechanics: enrollment is automatic for eligible accounts (opt-out), net metering is allowed for accounts with on-site solar, and customers who had previously opted out generally remain excluded unless they actively rejoin. They also noted some individual enrollment issues can arise from utility tariff codes or address data and said such cases have been handled on a customer-by-customer basis.

Suffrage warned of related federal policy and program risks: "The Low Income Heating and Assistance Program, LIHEAP, has been defunded of its staff at a national level," he said, adding that changes to that program could reduce a safety net some households have relied on for energy assistance.

The council did not take a vote on the update. Council members requested that staff post the new rates on the city's aggregation web page, confirm whether previously opted-out households should receive the postcard, and follow up with the exact AP Ohio SSO numbers for July when they are posted.

Why this matters: the aggregation program affects thousands of Gahanna households and small businesses; a supply price increase tied to PJM capacity pricing will raise bills for many residents even as the program preserves a green supply option and remains, by presenters' calculations, modestly below the SSO.

Direct quotes in this article come from Luke Suffrage and Stephen Harris, representatives of the SOPEC/Gahanna Energy Plus program, and from remarks by councilmembers during the May 19 meeting.