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Commissioners postpone decision on county natural-gas contract; Buckeye Energy offers short-term aggregation option
Summary
County staff and Buckeye Energy presented gas-pricing options. Buckeye suggested rolling winter months into an aggregation program at $3.99 per MCF to limit winter-price exposure; commissioners asked staff to obtain comparable pricing from the statewide county aggregation group (CCAO/CCA) and tabled the decision to next week.
Trumbull County received an update from Buckeye Energy on natural-gas purchasing alternatives amid volatile market prices.
Buckeye Energy’s representative told commissioners that the county’s current contract price with Constellation had been $3.19 per MCF but market prices had risen and the vendor-side bids Buckeye had seen were generally above $4.00 per MCF. To reduce exposure for the upcoming winter months, Buckeye recommended rolling the county’s accounts into an aggregation vehicle at about $3.99 per MCF to cover the high-use months through March 2026.
Commissioners and county staff discussed timing, the need to compare what a county aggregation (through CCAO/CCA or similar group) would actually cost, and administrative lead time for switching accounts. One commissioner advised not to act until the county had a competing firm price from the aggregation authority; another noted the short time window to arrange aggregation for fall/winter billing.
The board did not take a binding vote and agreed to table the item for one week while staff seeks a formal price from CCAO/CCA and confirms logistical timing requirements. Buckeye’s representative said the company had previously offered competitive bids and could roll relevant accounts into the county aggregation if that was the board’s preference.
