Bedford council approves joining TCAP, festival and fireworks contracts and increases Station 3 budget

The Bedford City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved three major items: joining the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power to buy the city’s wholesale electricity, renewed event contracts for the July 4 fireworks and the Beats & Eats festival, and an increase to the Fire Station 3 project budget to cover additional remediation and electrical work.

Finance Director Brady Olson told the council the city expects TCAP — a municipal aggregation of mainly cities — to better match Bedford’s overnight-heavy electricity load and produce lower wholesale rates than the city’s current county-focused purchasing cooperative (P3). “We believe we'll get a lower rate,” Olson said, explaining the switch is intended to use the city’s load profile to negotiate improved pricing. Margaret Somerive, identified in the meeting as executive director of TCAP, described the coalition’s monthly purchasing strategy and city‑focused governance, saying TCAP buys one‑twelfth of a municipality’s energy into the wholesale market each month to “take advantage of the average” price and avoid long‑term carrying charges.

The council voted, by motion of Mayor Pro Tem Gagliardi and second by Council member Sable, to authorize the city manager to enter a professional services agreement with TCAP. The resolution, as presented, makes Bedford a member in perpetuity; the staff presentation said the city would later present a resolution to withdraw from P3 if the council confirmed the switch. The staff report and…