Columbus extends Trey Bell contract to continue Community Choice Aggregation work

Columbus City Council on second reading approved an ordinance to extend the city's contract with Trey Bell LLC (doing business as Trebel) for an additional five-year term to continue work on the Sustainable Columbus Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program.

The extension, presented to the council by the Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee, authorizes the finance and management director to modify the existing contract and waives the competitive-bidding provisions of Columbus City Code chapter 3.29. Council discussion focused on the status of local clean-energy projects, market and regulatory headwinds, and Trebel's role in identifying procurements that keep the aggregation competitive for participating residents.

Why it matters: The Clean Energy Columbus program supplies a cleaner supply mix to participating customers, includes a community grant built into the rate, and is designed both to lower customer bills and to incentivize in-state renewable development. Trebel told council the program has enrolled more than 215,000 customers, delivered roughly $55 million in bill savings and financed community initiatives (including a $500,000 reinvestment and energy-efficiency kits). The extension preserves continuity of the program’s procurement, administration and supplier engagement functions.

Councilmember Weich, chairing the committee, asked Trebel about barriers to getting additional municipal-scale solar projects online. Zaire Dhruv, identified in testimony as president of Trebel, said the renewable development pipeline is constrained by rising demand (data center load), tariff and interconnection uncertainty, changes at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and PJM, questions about clean energy credit treatment, and general supply-demand imbalances that raise prices. Dhruv said Trebel and its implementation partner AP Energy are tracking more than a dozen local and regional projects and that the program will tie additional in‑state clean energy to CCA supply as projects come online.

Dhruv said Trebel evaluates projects by developer track record, contract price and tenor, and overall effect on the aggregation’s retail rate. He told the committee Trebel will pause procurement where an asset would render the program uncompetitive for residents. He also said Trebel’s advocacy role is limited to practical implementation on behalf of clients but that the firm is open to coordinating with the city and other stakeholders on policy advocacy if the city requests it.

Councilmember Weiss asked Trebel to appear before the committee in November for a program update tied to the regulatory environment and project opportunities; Dhruv agreed. Council voted to pass the ordinance; the clerk recorded the ordinance as passed on second reading.

Looking ahead: Councilmembers and Trebel asked for continued collaboration among developers, suppliers and city staff to move renewable projects forward so the aggregation can meet its in‑state clean-energy goals without materially increasing customer rates.