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County energy-broker exclusivity draws questions from outside consultant; council agrees to consider topic at a future work session
Summary
A consultant told Luzerne County Council the county’s exclusive broker arrangement may increase costs to taxpayers and discouraged alternative bids; council discussed scheduling a work-session discussion but took no formal action.
A Luzerne County contractor and consultant raised concerns during public comment that the county’s vendor arrangement for electric supply brokerage could cost the county thousands of dollars per year more than alternatives, and council agreed to consider the matter in a future work session.
Tony Gallagher, who identified himself as a principal with Key Energy Consulting, told council he had not filed a proposal for the county’s recent brokerage bid because an exclusive arrangement with World Connect Energy was already in place. Gallagher said World Connect told the county its fee would be $2.25 per megawatt-hour, an increase from the roughly $0.25 per megawatt-hour fee Key Energy said it used to charge.
“Luzerne County consumes 7,000 megawatt hours a year,” Gallagher said. “If you're raising your broker fees by $2, your broker fees go up by $14,000.” He added that supplier margins could raise that figure further and that his supply partner, WGL Energy, had previously saved the county about $670,000 versus the utility comparator price during a prior three-year period.
Gallagher said he was discouraged from bidding on the county procurement after receiving communications indicating World Connect Energy would shop prices for the county, and he recommended the county consider an open RFP. When County Attorney asked whether Gallagher had filed an RFP, Gallagher said he had not.
Councilmember Smith and other council members agreed the topic merited fuller discussion in a work session so staff and bidders could answer questions; council gave no formal direction or vote during the meeting.
